Eddie Howe set to leave one Newcastle United player out of his 25-man Premier League squad

Karius, a free agent after leaving Liverpool this summer, is undergoing a medical at the club after back-up goalkeeper Karl Darlow suffered ankle ligament damage in training yesterday.

Dubravka, loaned to Manchester United last week, can’t be recalled until January.

Howe must confirm his squad for the rest of the calendar year today. Karius could be on the bench for Sunday’s game away to West Ham United.

The injury to defender Emil Krafth – who suffered a long-term knee injury last month – had left United’s head coach with 25 fit and eligible players. Krafth is expected to be out for at least six months.

The imminent arrival of 29-year-old Karius means one player will miss out on a place in his squad. The one to miss out could be Darlow, depending on the severity of his injury, though Howe could instead choose to omit midfielder Jonjo Shelvey.

Shelvey’s set to be sidelined until late this year following surgery on a hamstring problem.

Speaking last month, Howe said: “I’d say he’d be in the squad without giving a 100% guarantee, because we need to see how his rehab goes, and there's a chance that he’ll be back and have a chance to play (before January), which, at the moment, we think there is.”

Any player left out of the club’s Premier League squad would still be eligible to play in Carabao Cup fixtures. Howe left Jamal Lewis and Ciaran Clark out of his squad in January.