Newcastle star Ewen Jaouen requires surgery and faces weeks on the sidelines

And the unfortunate news for the young stopper is he will be forced to go under the knife for surgery. It means that Jaouen faces a number of weeks on the sidelines and while a full time scale has not been placed on his absence, Chronicle Live believes it has been deemed worse than first expected.

It is a hammer blow for the 6ft 6in star who has played just one game for the Magpies since arriving from Reims in the summer in a £25million deal. The star was sent for an MRI scan before a return to Tyneside last week after apparent damage to his hamstring on international duty.

Jaouen had just recovered from an ankle injury that ruled him out of three games for the Magpies. It meant the youngster missed the game with Luxembourg on Saturday and will now miss the clash with Coventry and numerous other fixtures this autumn.

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It means that Nick Pope will remain as No 2 and is just a heartbeat away from the action as Newcastle nervously watch on to see if Lukas Hornicek reports back fully fit from the UEFA Nations League programme with Czechia.

Matthias Jaissle had held crunch talks with Pope just days after taking over when the club completed the transfer of Hornicek from SC Braga. Jaissle, speaking after the 2-1 win over Valencia, said: "I had a talk with Nick. I really appreciate what he did in his career so far.

"He knows exactly the situation right now, and we need to deal with it in the best possible way, but I always appreciate the player and the human being behind."

Jaouen would have been in consideration for the Carabao Cup tie at Everton at the end of the month but Jaissle must weigh up whether to keep playing Hornicek or offer Pope a chance to deputise.

Pope last played for Newcastle during the 4-1 defeat at Bristol City in Eddie Howe's last game, on the eve of the signing of the Czech goalie. But he may yet have another chapter in his Newcastle career with a summer exit definitely on the cards.

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