Ex-Newcastle keeper chief Smith reveals role in Dubravka Man Utd move | OneFootball

Former Newcastle United head of goalkeeping Simon Smith has revealed his role in Martin Dubravka's move to Manchester United.

United keeper coach Richard Hartis called Smith for his opinion on Dubravka.

He recalled to the Manchester Evening News: "He said, ' what can you tell me about Martin Dubravka' and I was struggling to find a negative.

" One of the questions I was asked was whether he was going to be ok playing in front of the Stretford End. I said it won't be any trouble for him.

"When Rafa [Benitez] was there, he said to me we need to find another goalkeeper and he sent me a list of goalkeepers to watch," Smith recalled. "The search carried on through the off-season and he was sending me names to watch on WyScout daily.

"If I said that they weren't very good, he would write back and say he needed more and that's where Martin came from — his name was on a list. I watched him playing for Sparta Prague but mainly for the Slovakian national team and I just liked what I saw.

"He was athletic, he looked confident, he really knew what he was doing and technically he was very good. Rafa did the background into his character and he eventually appeared on loan. You kind of think you know them because you've watched them that much."

Smith admitted that he was 'delighted' when first meeting Dubravka in person because his English was 'excellent'. "I thought thank goodness for that, we can talk about goalkeeping and then it became obvious that he was very into his goalkeeping," he added.

"He was really into his goalkeeping, he was interested, he wanted to get better and he wanted to learn. Martin realised that he had a great opportunity from where'd he come from. He was humble but delighted that he had signed for a massive club in England."