Done deal - Newcastle United medical booked as club-record £24.6m transfer imminent
Newcastle United transfers: Goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen is said to be due on Tyneside next week to finalise a £24.6million transfer.
Newcastle United are looking to complete their first major signing of the summer transfer window.
Newcastle have struck a deal with Stade de Reims for 20-year-old goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen to join the club for £24.6million.
The fee represents a club record paid for a goalkeeper, surpassing the £20million PSR-influenced signing of Odysseas Vlachodimos from Nottingham Forest in 2024.
Medical booked
Jaouen has reportedly agreed to a four-year deal at St James’ Park to be finalised as early as next week.
Sources in France have suggested Jaouen will travel to Tyneside with a medical booked in for Tuesday. He is set to become Newcastle’s first signing of the summer with the transfer window officially set to open on June 15.
Jaouen has also attracted interest from the likes of Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid but is expected to arrive at Newcastle to provide goalkeeping competition for Nick Pope. It comes after the club snubbed the opportunity to make Aaron Ramsdale’s loan move from Southampton permanent for £20million this summer.
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Who is Ewen Jaouen?
The 6ft 6in 20-year-old was born in Paris but moved to Brittany with his family at age five. After progressing through the ranks at Guingamp's academy, Jaouen was snapped up by Reims in 2023 before going on to make his senior debut during a loan spell at Rodez in Ligue 2 in 2024, aged 18.
He spent the 2024/25 campaign on loan at Dunkirk, where he scored the winning penalty in a famous Coupe de France last-16 win over Ligue 1 side Lille. Last season, Jaouen broke into the Reims first team, starting every game in Ligue 2 as the side secured a 6th place finish.
He has also been called up to the France national side at various youth levels up to Under-21s.
Newcastle United goalkeeper battle
Pre-season will mark Jaouen's opportunity to stake a claim to be Newcastle's starting goalkeeper. Nick Pope was able to dislodge Martin Dubravka from the starting spot shortly after his £10million arrival from Burnley in the summer of 2022.
The goalkeeper’s arrival casts some doubt over Pope’s future as he heads into the final year of his contract. The Gazette understands Newcastle are open to letting the goalkeeper leave this summer, which would pave the way for another goalkeeper addition.
While Eddie Howe has shown some willingness to change goalkeepers when needed, with Pope and Ramsdale rotating at times last season, the Newcastle head coach is naturally reluctant to do so.
"I'd say you don't necessarily naturally, or in my mind, think about rotating the goalkeeper,” he explained last season. “I think it's a position of consistency."
"Changing a goalkeeper is possible, of course, but it's a big call to make because I think, depending on the style of goalkeeper, a lot changes and defenders in front get used to a style."