The Newcastle United player who’s made ‘big improvements’ behind scenes – and is set for a new deal

Loris Karius made his debut in last week’s 5-0 win over Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia. The goalkeeper, signed in September after Karl Darlow suffered an ankle injury in training, made a series of saves in a 45-minute appearance at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh.

Eddie Howe revealed after the game that he wanted to keep the 29-year-old at United beyond next month, when his contract expires.

“I’d like him to stay, but obviously the two parties have got to agree, so fingers crossed,” said United’s head coach. “He’s a goalkeeper with a lot of experience. He’s trained well. He’s a very good character.”

Karius joined Newcastle as a free agent after a year in the cold at Liverpool, where he had been left out of the club’s 25-man Premier League squad.

And Karius has steadily improved since joining Newcastle, according to Howe.

Asked if the club had had to work on his confidence, Howe said: “I’d say every player’s a confidence player.

"What we’ve tried to do with Lorius is commit to the training and give him the best training that we can. He’s committed to that. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him. And we’ve seen big improvements in his game, because he’s come to us with limited training time. I think he’s shown he’s a very good goalkeeper.”

Karius didn’t play play for Liverpool again after making two errors the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid.

The former German Under-21 international went on to have loans at Besiktas and United Berlin before his contract expired in the summer.

Karius addressed his future at Newcastle after the Al Hilal fixture.

“It’s been all positive, and we're going to have some talks and see what we're going to do, but of course I can see myself here for longer – and push and hopefully get some more appearances in the future,” Karius told NUFC TV.

Meanwhile, Howe and his players are now preparing for Saturday’s friendly against Real Vallecano at St James’s Park.