Newcastle United were keen on Thomas Strakosha but the Lazio goalkeeper now seems to be pricing himself out of a Premier League move.
Newcastle had been linked with a whole host of goalkeepers before signing Nick Pope from Burnley last week.
Their goalkeeping pursuit is over now with Pope’s arrival, meaning the likes of Bernd Leno and Dean Henderson won’t be heading to the North East.
Another name that can now be crossed off the list is Strakosha, whose future is up in the air as his Lazio contract runs down.
Newcastle United were keen on Thomas Strakosha
Newcastle were heavily linked with Strakosha for months before finally signing their new goalkeeper in Pope.
The Sun reported in November that Newcastle were chasing a pre-contract agreement for Strakosha.
Strakosha links continued as recently as May, with Italian reports suggesting that Strakosha was ready to join Newcastle.
That didn’t happen though and Strakosha is now just three days away from becoming a free agent with his Lazio contract expiring.
Fabrizio Romano then claimed that Chelsea were considering signing Strakosha as cover for first-choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
The Sunday Mirror (26/06, p73) report that Strakosha’s personal terms are proving to be a problem for Premier League clubs.
Fulham were keen, Newcastle had a look and Chelsea have been in talks but he is seemingly asking for far too much money.
Strakosha would only be second-choice at Chelsea whilst Fulham have only just come back up to the Premier League.
The route to Newcastle is now closed for Strakosha and if he isn’t careful, more Premier League teams could move on to other targets.
The Albania international, 27, was in and out of the Lazio side last season and now faces the possibility of pre-season starting around Europe without him having a new club.
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