Tim Krul has spent 12 years at Newcastle United but it appears that manager Rafael Benitez will ship him, and Matz Sels, out in the summer.
Newcastle’s Tim Krul
If there’s one position Newcastle United are not crying out for reinforcements, it’s between the sticks.
Karl Darlow may make the odd mistake but, without the 26-year-old’s virtuoso displays, the Championship title would surely have made its way to the South Coast instead. Furthermore, Rob Elliot, arguably the club’s player of the season during their relegation year, is back to full fitness after a year on the sidelines.
Therefore, The Chronicle reports that the goalkeeping position is getting a little crowded at St James’ Park – and both Tim Krul and Matz Sels face being ejected from the newly promoted club this summer.
Dutch international Krul joined Newcastle all the way back in 2005 from hometown club ADO Den Haag, rising through the ranks to eventually become one of the Premier League’s most impressive shot-stoppers.
However, a cruciate ligament injury sustained on international duty in October 2015 appears to have wrecked the Dutchman’s career on Tyneside. Despite playing 14 games on loan with AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie in the second half of this season, it appears that manager Rafael Benitez is ready to ship out another of the club’s longest serving players.
Sels, meanwhile, will surely depart to much less fanfare. The Belgian starred in Gent’s historic run to the Champions League round of 16 last season but, a year after facing Wolfsburg at Europe’s premiere club competition, Sels found himself out of the first-team picture at St James’ Park.
Starting the season as the club’s number one, the 25-year-old eventually lost his place after a series of high-profile mistakes with an inability to command his area proving costly.
As such, his last Championship appearance came all the way back in October while that 3-0 FA Cup humiliation at Oxford United looks set to be his final action in English football.
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