Freddie Woodman seals Swansea City return
Freddie Woodman will re-join Swansea City for the 2020-21 season after the goalkeeper completed a second loan move from Newcastle United, subject to international clearance.
The 23-year-old – who has also signed a contract extension with the Magpies – spent the 2019-20 campaign in SA1 and excelled for Steve Cooper’s side.
Woodman kept 12 clean sheets from 43 appearances, before a hip injury suffered against Leeds brought his season to a premature end.
The England youth international – who won the Under-20 World Cup with the Three Lions in 2017 – also saved three of the five penalties he faced during his first stint with the Swans.
Head coach Cooper had made no secret of his desire to bring Woodman back to South Wales for a second loan spell, and the keeper will now return to the Swans ahead of next month’s start to the new campaign.
Woodman will battle with Steven Benda and Josh Gould for the number one spot.
Croydon-born Woodman – the son of former Crystal Palace, Brentford, Oxford and Northampton keeper Andy – started his youth career with the Eagles but made the move to Tyneside in 2013.
He has made four first-team appearances for the Magpies, being handed his debut against Luton in the FA Cup third round during the 2017-18 season before three further outings in the same competition the following campaign.
Woodman has previously had loan spells with Hartlepool, Crawley, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen, and has been capped by England at every age category from under-16 to under-21.
He previously worked with Swans boss Cooper and goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson at international level.
Woodman was part of the England Under-17 squad that secured the European Championship title in 2014. The keeper conceded just two goals and saved a penalty in the triumph over Holland in the final.
History would repeat itself in 2017 as he saved another penalty in the final to help England Under-20s see off Venezuela to win the World Cup.
Woodman - who beat off competition from Manchester United’s Dean Henderson for a starting role - played alongside the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ademola Lookman, Dominic Solanke and Kyle Walker-Peters in the Three Lions’ successful line-up.
