Newcastle sent £11m offer to Gregor Kobel before switching targets

Newcastle United reportedly made a major attempt to sign Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel before eventually bringing Lukas Hornicek to St James’ Park.

According to German reports, Kobel was our leading goalkeeping target last summer, with Newcastle even prepared to offer the Switzerland international a huge salary to tempt him to Tyneside. However, the 28-year-old turned us down, reportedly unconvinced by the sporting project.

Newcastle made approach for Kobel before signing Hornicek

SportBild, via Sport Witness, report that Newcastle approached Dortmund’s first-choice goalkeeper during the summer and made him a concrete contract offer.

The proposed deal would reportedly have seen Kobel earn €13m per year (£11m), representing a significant increase on his existing €10m salary at Dortmund.

That equates to around €250,000 per week (£210,000), which would have made him one of the highest-paid players at Newcastle.

However, the report claims it was Kobel himself who rejected the opportunity. He reportedly felt the sporting outlook at Newcastle was too uncertain and was not convinced by what was being presented to him.

SportBild say Kobel was at the top of our summer shopping list, before we eventually moved for Hornicek, signing the 24-year-old from Braga in a deal worth around €30.6m.

Kobel is now the established number one at Dortmund, where his current contract runs until 2028. The Bundesliga club are reportedly keen to open talks over a new deal, although an agreement is not yet guaranteed.

A wage offer we’re struggling to believe

There are certainly reasons to question the figures being reported here.

We had previously been linked with James Trafford, who went on to join Leeds, but reports suggested Newcastle were priced out of a deal before ultimately spending more than £40m on Hornicek and Ewen Jaouen.

So, did we really have the appetite to offer Kobel around £210,000 per week, potentially making him our highest-paid player?

That would represent a huge financial commitment for a goalkeeper, particularly when considering the reported difficulties we faced in getting a deal for Trafford over the line.

Kobel is undoubtedly an established goalkeeper with Champions League pedigree, and if Newcastle genuinely viewed him as their number one target, it would make sense to explore what was required to bring him in.

But the suggested salary is difficult when we seemed reluctant to fund a move for Trafford and were still managing existing FFP concerns.

Ultimately, Kobel turned us down, so we are told, and we moved on to Hornicek and Jaouen. Whether the German report accurately reflects the offer made, it certainly suggests we explored a much more expensive (and proven) route before settling on our eventual goalkeeping options.