Newcastle set to 'miss out' on Mio Backhaus to Europa League finalists - Sky Germany

Newcastle United are set to miss out on one of their goalkeeper targets after reports that Mio Backhaus has agreed terms with another club.

Werder Bremen's Mio Backhaus emerged as a target for Newcastle in recent weeks, and even earlier this week, it was reported that the Magpies were in hot pursuit of the 22-year-old German stopper.

One of Newcastle's biggest priorities this summer is to find a new Number 1, with Nick Pope becoming somewhat unreliable of late and the loan of Aaron Ramsdale didn't provide enough of a boost to warrant making the move a permanent one.

There are plenty of targets in mind for Newcastle, who are looking to avoid the same issue they've had in the last two summers, which saw them put far too much hope in signing James Trafford only to be let down, although the Manchester City stopper is once again top of the wish list.

Mio Backhaus closing in on move to SC Freiburg

Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg revealed earlier this week that Newcastle and SC Freiburg were making moves to sign Mio Backhaus, but it now looks as though the Magpies are set to miss out.

Last night, Plettenberg posted on X that the Europa League runners-up were close to agreeing on a €17 million move for Backhaus, with the keeper looking to stay in Germany. 

Although nothing is finalised yet, it does look like Newcastle will have to move on to other targets in our search for a new No.1. 

"Mio Backhaus has reached an agreement with SC Freiburg. The 22 y/o is their top candidate to replace Noah Atubolu, as exclusively revealed in recent days. The deal would be worth around €17m for Werder Bremen.

"Backhaus has several enquiries, but is keen to join Freiburg. Personal terms are agreed. A contract until 2031 is waiting for him.

"Things between Backhaus and Freiburg could move quickly in the coming days. Not done yet. It now only depends on Atubolu."

Not a great loss for Newcastle

In truth, this doesn't feel like a big loss for Newcastle. It never felt like Backhaus was a real target, or at least not as high on the list as Trafford or Robin Risser and Bart Verbruggen, who feel like the real primary targets.

A goalkeeper from a Bundesliga side battling relegation all season didn't feel like our next No. 1, to be fair. That's not to suggest that he couldn't step up; we can't know that, but the aforementioned goalkeepers have already proven themselves at a higher level and feel like a safer bet.

We thought that Backhaus may have been eyed as a backup goalkeeper if Newcastle were looking to bring in two new keepers this summer, but it looks like we'll never know now.