Charlton Athletic are bracing themselves for offers from other clubs for goalkeeper Nick Pope. TEAMtalk.com understands that Premier League clubs have even shown an interest in trying to sign him this summer.
Pope ended the season as the number one for the Addicks, but the new manager could struggle to have him in his team for next season. That is because Crystal Palace, Hull City, Leeds United, Burnley, Nottingham Forest and Celtic are all monitoring the 24-year-old.
The highly-rated shot-stopper impressed in what was essentially a struggling Charlton team since donning the gloves ahead of Stephen Henderson. His impressive performances have clearly attracted the attentions of several watching scouts, who could be advising their superiors to make a bid to the relegated club.
Out of those clubs in question, only really Nottingham Forest, Burnley and Celtic have undisputed number one’s in the form of Dorus de Vries, Euro 2016-bound Tom Heaton and Craig Gordon respectively. None can be classified under the ‘young’ category so they could be looking towards the future.
It is unclear if Marco Silvestri will be a Leeds player next season, with future over his future seemingly intensifying in the last few weeks. Allan McGregor is the number one at Hull, but was taken out of the team earlier this season after making some mistakes in games, perhaps Bruce is looking for alternatives, even though he has two more keepers in his squad as well. Wayne Hennessey has been criticised at points this season as well, even by his manager Alan Pardew and being London-based, Pope may want to stay in his current location without having to move.
One thing that is for sure is that Nick Pope is set for a very bright future in the game. It was only a few weeks ago that Pope told News Shopper that he wants to stay at the club and is already looking forward to mounting a promotion challenge in League One next season. Therefore, he could easily be staying at The Valley as well.
