Martin Dubravka is not the player some Manchester United fans think they are signing

Newcastle had not won a Premier League home game for four months when they welcomed Manchester United to St. James' Park in February 2019. Jose Mourinho's side were second in the league table and they were expected to win in the North East.

Mourinho had never won a Premier League fixture at St. James' Park and that record haunted him again. Matt Ritchie scored the matchwinner for Newcastle in the second half and United struggled with the hosts' physicality, with the crowd celebrating every challenge. Mourinho said after the game that Newcastle had fought like 'animals' - it had been an afternoon to forget.

However, It wasn't an afternoon to forget for goalkeeper Martinez Dubravka, who had just made his Newcastle debut with an outstanding performance. Newcastle had just signed Dubravka from Sparta Prague and it seemed they had unearthed a gem.

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Dubravka made a string of excellent saves to prevent Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Ashley Young from scoring and he was named Man of the Match for his performance. "My verdict is we could've been here for 10 hours and not scored a goal," a disgruntled and tired Mourinho said in his post-match interview. "Newcastle played with their lives and defended with their lives."

Newcastle signed Dubravka permanently for just £4million that summer and he quickly earned the reputation as one of the Premier League's finest shot-stoppers. Such was his importance, the goalkeeper played every minute of Newcastle's 2018/19 and 2019/20 league campaigns and he played a key role in maintaining Newcastle's top-flight status during the Mike Ashley era.

Dubravka seemed set to be the Magpies' No.1 goalkeeper for years to come,