Newcastle’s England Under-20s goalkeeping hero Freddie Woodman wanted by Hearts on season-long loan
Scottish Premiership side waiting on answer from Rafa Benitez as they battle Bury and Northampton for starlet
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ENGLAND Under-20s World Cup hero Freddie Woodman is reportedly wanted by Hearts on a season-long loan.
The Newcastle goalkeeper, 20, is expected to leave the Magpies in order to gain more first-team experience.
And the Chronicle claim the Scottish Premiership outfit will hand him a debut away at champions Celtic this Saturday should they receive the thumbs-up from Rafa Benitez to take him to Tynecastle.
The stopper, who also produced the goods for his country in a penalty shoot-out in 2014 to help the Three Lions win the European U17 Championship, is highly-rated at St James’ Park.
He is under contract until 2020 but with the expected arrival of Udinese keeper Orestis Karnezis, the club are keen for him to continue his development.
Woodman has already impressed north of the border following a spell with Kilmarnock in the second half of last season.
He previously told SunSport: “Kilmarnock was quality. To play in a league as big as that and against teams of that calibre was massive for my development.
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“I was really happy with that experience. It really helped me learn to handle the big occasions. We went to Celtic Park in front of a huge crowd and played against big clubs like Rangers and Hearts.
“I kept a clean sheet against Rangers and that was up there with one of my best moments at Killie.
“That was a good night at the office for me. I had a lot of saves to make, it was live on TV, and that is one of the experiences that I’ve taken with me."
He added: “Then playing at Celtic, in front of nearly 60,000 people, the day seemed to go so quick. They had won the league the week before so we had to give them a guard of honour.
“Being around those big environments and better players, I feel like I’ve learned to deal with that.”
Woodman has made four substitute appearances for Newcastle during pre-season.
He has previously spent time on loan at Hartlepool without making an appearance before playing 12 times for Crawley in the 2015/16 campaign.
League One sides Bury and Northampton are both also interested in the youngster.
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