Martin Dubravka’s rapid rise in the Premier League with Newcastle United took Jonas Dal by surprise, the goalkeeper’s former Esbjerg FB coach telling Tipsbladet that he ‘didn’t see that coming’.
As regular St James’ matchgoers will tell you, Dubravka’s nervy display during Man United’s 2-0 Carabao Cup victory over Burnley this week was more than a little out of character.
You could probably count on one hand the number of mistakes the veteran Slovakian made during his three-and-a-half year spell at Newcastle. And Dubravka’s error-strewn display in midweek can probably be put down to a lack of match action. It was, after all, only his second appearance since joining Erik Ten Hag at Old Trafford over the summer.
Time will tell whether Man United opt to trigger the £6 million option-to-buy clause in Dubravka’s contract. It feels unlikely as things stand; the likes of Unai Simon, Yann Sommer and Diogo Costa linked with big-money moves to United.
Whatever the future holds, the soon-to-be-34-year-old can still look back on his time in England’s topflight with a great deal of pride; Dubravka’s old Esbjerg boss admitting that he never expected the veteran shot-stopper to scale such heights.
Martin Dubravka now on loan at Manchester United from Newcastle
“Dubravka couldn’t really get anywhere,” Dal recalls, explaining that Esbjerg had tried to replace him with a new number one during the 2015/16 season. “No one cared to have (Dubravka) at the time.
“I think the same people who couldn’t see the light in him had seen the same matches that I had. He did not win points for Esbjerg. It wasn’t written anywhere – in the sun, moon or stars – that he’d be the Newcastle ‘keeper in a few years.
“And now he plays for Manchester United. I didn’t see that coming. It is a very happy story.”
Newcastle paid a bargain £4 million to bring Dubravka to St James’ Park back in 2018; the former Sparta Prague glovesman joining on a permanent basis following a superb loan spell on Tyneside.
He lost his place to Nick Pope before leaving the Magpies for Man United nearly four months ago.
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