Newcastle United have agreed a deal to sign France Under-21 goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen from Reims, according to multiple reports.
The 20-year-old is set to sign a four-year-deal at St James’ Park after the Magpies agreed a €28.5million (£24.2m) fee with the Ligue 2 club.
Despite having never played top-flight football in his career, Jaouen was reportedly the subject of late interest from clubs in France and an enquiry from Real Madrid.
But he will make the move to Tyneside and is expected to compete to be Newcastle’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Newcastle elected not to take up the option to make Aaron Ramsdale’s loan deal permanent after both he and Nick Pope endured indifferent seasons in a disappointing 2025-26 campaign for the Magpies.
Pope has been linked with Premier League rivals Leeds United, and Newcastle could yet sign another goalkeeper as they look to fix what was a clear problem area for manager Eddie Howe as his side finished an underwhelming 12th in the Premier League.
Jaouen played in all 34 Ligue 2 games for Reims last season as they finished sixth in France’s second tier. He kept 15 clean sheets, the most in the division.
Having seen Pope (7) and Ramsdale (1) combine for just eight clean sheets in 38 league games last season, Newcastle will hope Jaouen is quickly able to justify their significant investment in his services.