Newcastle pay 30 million euros for Hornicek, and Nick Pope looks next out the door
The Czech goalkeeper had one season as Braga’s first choice behind him. Newcastle triggered his release clause anyway, days after losing their manager and agreeing to sell Bruno Guimaraes.
Aug 3, 2026
Newcastle have triggered the 30 million euro release clause in Lukas Hornicek’s Braga contract, which is roughly 25 million pounds for a 24-year-old goalkeeper who has been a first-choice number one for exactly one season. It is an aggressive way to solve a problem, and it tells you what the club thinks of the goalkeeper it already has.
Who Newcastle are buying
Hornicek has been at Braga since 2020, when he moved from Pardubice in what was the Czech club’s biggest sale. He waited a long time for the gloves. Last season was his first as Braga’s first choice, and he played 33 Liga Portugal games in it, keeping 12 clean sheets and conceding 32 goals.
He is 1.97 metres tall, which matters less than it used to, and he was one of three goalkeepers in Czechia’s squad at the 2026 World Cup, which matters more. Fabrizio Romano reported the deal as done with payment terms and personal terms agreed, and Hornicek travelled to La Manga, where Newcastle are holding their pre-season camp, to complete his medical.
He becomes the fifth signing of a busy summer on Tyneside, after Ewen Jaouen, Bazoumana Toure, Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba. The reported fee has bounced around between 24.5 and 25.7 million pounds depending on which day’s exchange rate you use, but the euro figure is the one in the contract: 30 million.
Nick Pope is the one this affects
Hornicek is not arriving as cover. He is arriving as the first choice, which leaves Nick Pope, who turned 34 this year and has a contract until June 2027, looking for a way out. Ipswich Town and Leeds United have both been linked, and Football Insider reported last month that Newcastle were hoping for something in the region of 10 to 12 million pounds.
Pope has been at St James’ Park since 2022, through the club’s best years in a generation, and four seasons of that earns a better exit than being edged aside in a fortnight. Newcastle have not been sentimental about anyone this summer.
A club rebuilding at speed
Consider what has happened on Tyneside in the past week. Eddie Howe left the club. Matthias Jaissle arrived from Al Ahli on a contract to June 2030, at a cost of around 11 million euros in compensation. Arsenal agreed a 90 million euro deal for Bruno Guimaraes, the player the whole midfield was built around. And now the goalkeeper has been replaced too.
Whether that is decisiveness or panic depends on how the first month of the season goes. Signing a 24-year-old with one season as a number one behind him is a bet on development rather than a safe pair of hands, and Jaissle’s reputation for improving young players is presumably part of the reasoning. Newcastle have chosen the harder version of a rebuild, with a new coach and a new spine and no time to bed either one in.