Is Freddie Woodman’s contract the next one Newcastle should look to deal with?

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Freddie Woodman’s contract with Newcastle United is currently set to run until 2020.

Freddie Woodman’s contract at Newcastle may still have more than two years left to run, but Rafa Benitez should arguably view the young goalkeeper’s situation as one of the next deals he wants to sort out.

Woodman appears to have a huge amount of talent, and could, if given the chance, cement himself as the Magpies’ number one for a long time in the coming years.

Rob Elliot has done well in recent times, but it could certainly be argued that none of Benitez’s stoppers are so indispensable to him that you get the feeling that Woodman’s path to the first-team will be blocked once he begins to realise his full potential.

And yet, Newcastle are not far off allowing the 20-year-old’s contract to start running into its penultimate year, which is a dangerous strategy when you consider that the Chronicle reported in August that Everton and Crystal Palace were keen on the youngster, while Liverpool and Tottenham have been linked previously.

It is probably too soon for Benitez to start handing Woodman regular chances in the first-team, but making that gesture of putting forward a new long-term deal will make a fantastic statement that the Newcastle boss sees the stopper as the long-term answer between the sticks.

Given the potential that Woodman – who, of course, won the under-20 World Cup with England earlier this year – possesses, allowing him to get near the final two years of his contract would arguably be a mistake that the Magpies should not be making as they look to continue to progress.