Freddie Woodman Inks New Newcastle Deal

Newcastle United have announced that goalkeeper Freddie Woodman has signed a brand new deal that will keep him at the club for 3 more years, with the option to extend it to a fourth additional year.

The keeper has spent the last couple of seasons on loan, first in the Scottish Premiership with Aberdeen, and last season with Swansea City. Woodman has been arguably one of the most impressive academy prospects in recent memory, having impressed everywhere he has been on loan and having consistently moved up in the caliber of league he is loaned into. Additionally, Woodman has been a solid prospect for the English National team, having played a major role in the England U20s World Cup win. In that World Cup run not only was Woodman named the winner of the Golden Gloves award, but also made the match winning penalty save in the final to help England lift the trophy.

Last Season Woodman turned in a solid season in the Championship for Swansea that resulted in 107 saves, a save percentage of 68%. 12 clean sheets, and a clean sheet percentage of 27% all in 43 starts. Freddie also saved 3 of the 5 penalties he saw all season. Freddie’s season was cut short when he picked up a hip injury ahead of the Championship Playoffs where Swansea lost 3-2 to Brentford on aggregate.

After having a successful season with Swansea it seemed as if Freddie was on his way to securing a spot in the first team, especially with Rob Elliott’s time with the club coming to an end. The club then elected to sign veteran keeper, Mark Gillespie, leaving Freddie Woodman out of the first team picture. This caused a bit of confusion among fans, as it seemed Freddie was ready for first team football, and it did not make much sense to keep the 23-year old waiting.

Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images

The club then announced today that Freddie woodman signed a new deal that will keep him a Newcastle player for 3 more years with the option for a 4th year. In conjunction with announcing the new deal the club announced that Freddie would be returning on loan to Swansea for another season.

Another season in the Championship is good for all parties as Swansea gets the services of one of the better young keepers in England, Freddie gets a load of playing time at a relatively high level of football and Newcastle does not have to navigate trying to develop Freddie in the Premier League while also having statistically one of the best goalies in the Prem.

In an interview with NUFC TV Woodman gave his thoughts on the new deal.

“It’s great news for me - I can look towards the future and see myself as a Newcastle player. It’s great for the club to commit to me and I can stay there another three years, which is huge.

I see myself as a Newcastle player and my ultimate goal is to be the Newcastle number one, so hopefully I can do that.”

Woodman joins Tom Allan as the first Newcastle players to have been sent out on loan ahead of the 2020-2021 season.