Karl Darlow could be surprisingly shown the door by Newcastle United, meaning former Manchester City favourite Willy Caballero is on Benitez’s hit list.
Manchester City’s Willy Caballero silenced his doubters in 2016/17
With 16 Premier League appearances to his name, 2016/17 was by far Willy Caballero’s most impressive season at Manchester City.
Although the cynics will argue that the Argentine’s increased involvement in the starting XI owed much to Claudio Bravo’s holographic approach to goalkeeping, it is testament to Cabellero’s performances that many City supporters were more than disappointed when it was announced that his contract would not be renewed this summer.
However Pep Guardiola’s loss could be Newcastle United’s gain. The Mirror reports that the 35-year-old could make a shock move to Tyneside this summer in a transfer that will cast further doubt over the futures of both Karl Darlow and Tim Krul.
The Northern Echo claimed last week that Darlow could be allowed to leave St James’ Park this summer despite playing a starring role in their Championship title winning season.
And Krul, who has revived his career at AZ Alkmaar after recovering from a cruciate ligament injury, could also have his 11-year association with Newcastle brought to an end.
As such, speculation had intensified that Benitez was attempting an ambitious reunion with Pepe Reina, whose penalty shootout heroics earned the manager his first trophy in English football with Liverpool in the 2006 FA Cup final.
Yet Reina’s agent insisted that the Spanish World Cup winner would be remaining with Serie A giants Napoli until the end of his contract in 2018, as reported by the Daily Mail.
And this appears to have pushed Newcastle in the direction of Caballero. Failing to convince in his first two years in England due to an unhelpful habit of spilling shots and struggling to command his area, the former Malaga favourite recovered to show off his impressive reflexes and distribution skills in 2016/17.
Though Newcastle supporters could be forgiven for questioning why Darlow would be shoved out the door to make way for a goalkeeper nine years his senior, after the most impressive season of his career to boot.
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