Freddie Woodman has already hinted at his next move amid Arsenal transfer links


Newcastle United goalkeeper Freddie Woodman is once again being linked with a summer move to Arsenal.

A busy summer lies ahead for the Gunners, who will kick-off the 2021/22 Premier League campaign with a trip to newly-promoted Brentford in just under two months time, as manager Mikel Arteta looks to make up for a below-par 2020/21 season, which saw the club finish eighth in the table and miss out on European football for the first time in a quarter of a century.

It is understood that Arteta is keen to bolster his squad in a number of areas over the coming weeks, ranging from between the sticks to the central attacking-midfield role, with football.london revealing in January Arsenal had the goalkeeper on a shortlist of players they were looking at.

The Gunners, despite the transfer window in England having been open less than a fortnight, have been linked with numerous names, including Brighton & Hove Albion’s Ben White and James Maddison of Leicester City. As well as being keen on those two, the Gunners are also interested in signing Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana, with the future of current No.1 Bernd Leno uncertain.

However, with Onana still in the middle of a ban from all football-related activity, signing a ‘keeper that is available for selection at the start of the new season may be more tempting for Arteta to consider.

According to a report by our sister title, ChronicleLive, the Spaniard could now get that opportunity.

That is because, according to ChronicleLive, Newcastle United are keen to sign Gunners midfielder Joe Willock this summer on a permanent basis following a recent loan spell and could throw Woodman into the deal to bring down the overall price of a transfer.

Woodman is said to be currently valued at £10million by Newcastle, meaning that would knock a large sum of money off any potential transfer that the Magpies are willing to fund.



Freddie Woodman was hugely impressive on loan at Swansea City last term. (Image: Athena Pictures/Getty Images).
Freddie Woodman was hugely impressive on loan at Swansea City last term. (Image: Athena Pictures/Getty Images).

For Woodman, this summer is a huge period in his career. He has recently returned to St James’ Park following a second season on loan at Swansea City, which saw the Swans narrowly miss out on promotion from the Championship for the second season in a row, and he now has a battle on his hands to land the No.1 jersey in the North East.

Steve Bruce currently has Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow available to him, meaning Woodman faces a stern battle to become the club’s first choice goalkeeper next season.

With that said, Woodman may be tempted to leave the club if he finds himself struggling for opportunities.

Interestingly, Woodman has already admitted that he would like to return to the Liberty Stadium and re-join Swansea, making the claim following Steve Cooper’s side’s Championship play-off final defeat to Brentford last month.

“It’s probably been the best two years of my life playing here. I’ve fallen in love with the place and developed so much,” he told Swansea’s club website.

“I just wanted to get over the line for the city, I know how much they wanted us in that big league, so I’m absolutely gutted.

“I hope this isn’t the last game I play in a Swansea shirt.

“The main thing is to sort out my next step; if that’s in a Swansea shirt then brilliant but if it’s not, I have to crack on and that’s football.

“I’m a Swansea City fan now; I’ll be looking out for their results straight away, but football’s a funny game and anything can happen. We’ll see what happens.”

The summer window is officially open, and it’s going to be tough to keep up with the comings and goings in and out of the Emirates.

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Having become a fans’ favourite at Swansea, he may be tempted to return to South Wales this summer if the opportunity arrises, but, at the same time, he may have reached the stage in his career where he wishes to test himself in the Premier League.

If that is the case, Woodman may be tempted to make the move to the Emirates Stadium if Newcastle can agree a deal with Arsenal to re-sign Willock.

But if Woodman was to join Arsenal, it is likely that he would want the guarantee of being first choice in the pecking order from Arteta, especially when he proved to be so impressive during the 2020/21 campaign.





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