Everton and Tottenham Hotspur have been linked to the Newcastle United starlet.
Rafael Benitez has told The Chronicle that Newcastle United goalkeeper Freddie Woodman is going nowhere until January – and even then he claims it’ll only be a loan deal.
The Chronicle have reported Tottenham Hotspur and Everton are both monitoring the highly-rated 20-year-old, who helped England to glory in the U-20 World Cup in June.
Last month, The Chronicle reported that Benitez told Woodman that he is “the future” of Newcastle, but was willing to let the youngster leave on a temporary basis this summer.
It would appear now as if that isn’t the case, as Benitez tells The Chronicle that Woodman will be staying with the Magpies until January at the earliest, and only a loan move will be considered by the St James’s Park club.
He said: “The idea is to protect us as a club and make sure he progresses, to keep him until January and then he can go on loan. He can play with the under-23s and stay with the first team and work with the first team ‘keepers every day. Then we are covered if we have any problems because he has the quality (to play in the first team).
“Personally he thinks he would like to play because he wants the experience. I told him he can play with the under-23s and we don’t want to lose. We have decided that he will stay with us and can go on loan in January if he needs more experience.”
Neither Tottenham or Everton need him at this moment in time.
Spurs have the ever-reliable Hugo Lloris between the sticks once again this season, with Michel Vorm as his back-up, while the Toffees have spent a cool £30 million on signing Jordan Pickford from Sunderland.
If Woodman is the future of Newcastle, then Pickford, 23, is the future of Everton and moving to Goodison Park wouldn’t be a great move for the young Magpie, even if he had an eye on the long term because, odds are, Pickford will still be there.
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