Newcastle United have announced that goalkeeper Martin Dubravka has been recalled to the club after his loan spell at Manchester United came to an end.
The Slovakia international joined the Red Devils on a temporary deal in the summer to provide competition to David de Gea, with Dean Henderson joining Nottingham Forest on loan.
However, Dubravka consistently struggled to get a look-in under Erik ten Hag, who has retained faith in De Gea as his number one goalkeeper for the 2022-23 season.
Dubravka did not make a single Premier League appearance for the 20-time English champions, and he was also left on the bench for five of their Europa League group games - failing to make the squad against Sheriff on September 15 due to injury.
The 33-year-old's only starts under Ten Hag came in the EFL Cup, as he played the full 90 in their third-round win over Aston Villa before keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over Burnley in the fourth round.
Since the World Cup, Dubravka has failed to make the bench for either of Man United's Premier League contests with Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers, with Tom Heaton taking his place among the substitutes.
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Following his lack of game time for the Red Devils, Dubravka's loan spell at Old Trafford has been terminated early, and he has rejoined the Magpies for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.
Newcastle did not give a specific reason for Dubravka's recall, and the Slovakian is set to provide further competition to undisputed number one Nick Pope at St James' Park.
Pope's understudies this term have been Karl Darlow and Mark Gillespie, while former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius - whose short-term deal expires this month - is also on the books at St James' Park.
Dubravka has kept 37 clean sheets in 130 appearances for Newcastle since joining from Sparta Prague in the summer of 2018, and he was named the club's Player of the Year for the 2019-20 season.
Pope kept his ninth clean sheet of the Premier League season in Saturday's 0-0 draw with Leeds United, and the England international leads the way at the top of the charts, having recorded two more shut-outs than De Gea and Arsenal's Aaron Ramsdale.
De Gea's seventh clean sheet of the campaign came against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 1-0 success for the Red Devils earlier on New Year's Eve, allowing Man United to leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur into fourth place in the table.
Ben Knapton
