Motherwell goalkeeper Mark Gillespie has admitted that his future up in Scotland is “up in the air”.
This comes after the 28-year-old, who was previously in the youth set up at St James’ Park, and almost signed for us before football was suspended during the January transfer window.
Bear in mind that this is the current regime that pursued to bring the lifelong Magpie back home. But with PIF’s takeover talks ongoing, it is uncertain as to whether this move would go ahead under new ownership if the £300m deal goes through.
Having previously spent eight years with us between 2000 and 2008, Gillespie told the Daily Record that he is none the wiser as to where he will playing when the 2020/21 campaign gets underway.
Is Mark Gillespie good enough for Newcastle?
Yes
No
“My future is up in the air at the moment until everyone knows the situation with the wider game,” says the Newcastle-born glovesman.
“Clubs, players, managers don’t know what’s coming next week never mind next season.
“Once it becomes clear where the leagues stand and things like that there will be conversations to be had.”
Newcastle’s current No. 1 Martin Dubravka has been on fire since former manager Rafael Benitez tied him down on a permanent basis in 2018, and it seems unlikely that Gillespie would be able to take his spot in the starting lineup.
With 24 clean sheets from 80 appearances for us, Gillespie will have to work incredibly hard to get anywhere near that figure and has made more saves more than any other shot-stopper in the Premier League during the current campaign, before football was suspended.
Unless Gillespie pulls out a goalkeeping masterclass, he would, unfortunately, have to get comfortable on the Tyneside bench for a while.