Newcastle United secure double free agent deal as former Liverpool star signs following pre-season return

Newcastle’s first-team returned to Darsley Park for pre-season training on Sunday, July 9. And that included Paul Dummett and Loris Karius, who have just each agreed new one-year deals at the club.

The pair were technically free agents after their respective contracts with The Magpies expired on June 30. The club confirmed in its retained list that both Dummett and Karius, neither of whom featured in the Premier League for Newcastle last season, had been offered new deals.

Both have agreed to extend their stay at the club until June 2024.

As a result, the 2023-24 campaign will be Dummett’s 12th since making his senior debut for Newcastle. The academy product has made over 200 appearances for his boyhood club, scoring four goals.

Karius has experienced an intriguing Newcastle career since signing as a free agent in September 2022. The former Liverpool goalkeeper initially agreed a short-term deal to January which he then extended until the end of the 2022-23 season.

Despite not featuring in the Premier League for the club, Karius made his debut for The Magpies in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium. Newcastle lost the match 2-0 in what remains the 30-year-old’s only competitive appearance for the club to date.

The new contracts follow the likes of Matt Ritchie and Mark Gillespie extending their deals at St James’ Park despite a lack of any first-team action last season.

But head coach Eddie Howe has noted the important role such players play behind the scenes, previously labelling Dummett and Gillespie as the ‘unsung heroes’ in his squad.

Speaking at the end of the 2022-23 season, with Dummett’s contract set to expire, Howe said: “I see Paul as part of our future.

“When you build a squad, you’re never going to be able to play everybody within that squad for the amount of time that maybe they want to, so you need players that are prepared to fight for their place, train really well and have a really good effect on the group.

“Matt Ritchie, Paul Dummett, they’re players that, although they haven’t necessarily performed for the outside world, they’ve performed for us internally. They’ve both been excellent.”

While Karius’ new deal offers a bit of clarity in the goalkeeper department, the futures of Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow are still uncertain.