Newcastle United have been given the clearest hint yet that Martin Dubravka will be staying at St James' Park beyond the January window.

The United faithful demonstrated their wish for Dubravka to stay during the FA Cup third round win over Bromley after serenading the star in the second half, a touch that left him visibly moved. Dubravka was handed a 48 hour weekend deadline to make up his mind on the lucrative offer from Al-Shabab.

Since then, Al-Shabab's management has opened negotiations with Ukrainian Georgi Bushchan, Dynamo Kyiv's goalkeeper, and Hungarian Peter Gulacsi, Leipzig's goalkeeper. Al-Shabab initially targeted Dubravka from Newcastle United with sources in Saudi Arabia suggesting United refused to release him during the winter transfer window due to lacking a suitable replacement.

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Eddie Howe admitted that the club were 'relaxed' about Dubravka's future after his solid showings as Nick Pope's replacement. The Slovakian was given the nod again for the FA Cup win over Bromley ahead of Greek rival Odysseas Vlachodimos and got a great reception from the United fans. "We've had discussions about his future, but I think we're very relaxed," the Magpies manager revealed. "As I said previously, he's never said that he wanted to leave. I think he's enjoying playing and enjoying the moment that the team is in.

"So, I don't expect any major announcement. We hope everything will die down, and he will be very much part of our future."

When asked if the rousing Gallowgate End chant asking Dubravka to stay had helped, the head coach insisted: "I don't think there was a cause that I necessarily needed help with. I think everyone sees how well Martin has played in the recent run that we've had, he's been pivotal to it.

"It was just a case of it was a difficult situation which arose. Obviously, Martin is out of contract, that would be the big thing, and as I said earlier, hopefully we can find a solution that keeps him happy."

Newcastle, meanwhile, have been linked with Lille stopper Lucas Chevalier. Reports today claim that the Magpies are set to rival the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and PSG for the signing of one of the best French goalkeepers in Ligue 1. The 23-year-old is highly-rated in France. Howe's main goalkeeping target, however, remains Burnley's England Under-21 man James Trafford.