Newcastle United goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos has been told that joining the Magpies in the summer was “clearly a mistake”.
Vlachodimos joined Newcastle from Nottingham Forest for a reported £20million fee in the summer transfer window.
The transfer raised plenty of eyebrows with Nick Pope the undisputed No. 1 at St James’ Park.
The Greek international appears to be third choice at best under Eddie Howe with Martin Dubravka the immediate back-up to Pope.
Newcastle also signed experienced goalkeeper John Ruddy on a free transfer in the summer, meaning Howe has five first-team ‘keepers with Mark Gillespie also at the club.
Vlachodimos joined the Magpies after the north east club agreed to sell young midfielder Elliot Anderson to Forest for £35m.
Many felt Forest overpaid for Anderson but the transfer made more sense when they sold Vlachodimos to Newcastle for £20m.
Some have suspicions that Newcastle essentially agreed to sell Anderson to the City Ground club for £15m and signed unwanted goalkeeper Vlachodimos in a separate deal to help balance the books and avoid a financial fair play breach.
We are not accusing anyone of anything. Promise.
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Vlachodimos will be regretting the move to Newcastle. Well, he is probably regretting joining Forest in the first place. He was very successful at Benfica but has struggled for game time since leaving Portugal for the Premier League in September 2023.
The 30-year-old will surely pursue a move elsewhere in the winter transfer window and Greek commentator Christos Sotirakopouloshas said the player had plenty of other offers in the summer.
“Clearly a mistake. He could have moved to Germany, Spain or Italy – in that order. There were enough offers,” Greek commentator Christos Sotirakopoulos said.
“At Benfica he was between the posts for a top team for five years. In Germany, for example, he knows the country, the people and the circumstances. Even if he had played at Nottingham.
“This is a team that often comes under pressure and defensive order can quickly be lost as a result. I don’t know the circumstances of the expensive move to Newcastle well enough.”
Vlachodimos played for Greece against England on Thursday night, helping his country win at Wembley for the first time.
Despite his all-out attack approach failing against the Greek side, England interim manager Lee Carsley insists he will not change his approach.
“My position and my understanding of coaching, I want to attack,” he said.
“I want to attack – you’ve seen the teams play (at Under-21s level). It’s something that’s really important to me and with that you do lose games. You do lose some games.
“It’s not ideal, of course it’s not, but with that mentality I’ve found that you definitely win more games than not.
“It’s very disappointing tonight but nothing changes in terms of the way that I see the game. It’s not affected how I see it.”
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