NEWCASTLE UNITED have confirmed the signing of England international goalkeeper Nick Pope from Burnley.

Pope moves to St James' Park for an undisclosed fee, which is understood to be around £12m.

The 30-year-old has signed a four-year deal on Tyneside, and will battle it out with Martin Dubravka for the right to start next season as Newcastle's number one.

"Now I'm here, I can't wait to get started," said Pope. "The deal has taken a couple of weeks to come to fruition but it got over the line really quickly, and I'm delighted to be here and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into it."

The Soham-born shot-stopper is Newcastle's second signing of the summer, following full-back Matt Targett, who completed a permanent move from Aston Villa earlier this month.

He has spent the last six seasons with Burnley, making more than 150 senior appearances, and also boasts eight senior England caps.

He was keen to remain in the Premier League to give himself the best possible chance of making Gareth Southgate’s England squad for this winter’s World Cup finals in Qatar.

While Pope was named in the squad for the recent round of matches in the Nations League, he did not feature in ant of England’s four games with Southgate turning to Aaron Ramsdale as his preferred back-up to established number one Jordan Pickford.

"Nick is an exceptional Premier League and international level goalkeeper so I'm very pleased to be adding strong competition to a very important position," said Magpies head coach Eddie Howe.

"There has been a lot of interest in him from other clubs this summer, so I'd like to thank our owners and everyone behind the scenes for getting us ahead of the competition. I'm delighted he is joining us as we prepare for the exciting challenge ahead."

Pope’s arrival at Newcastle is part of a major goalkeeping overhaul being overseen by Eddie Howe this summer, with Freddie Woodman having completed a permanent move to Preston earlier this week.

Karl Darlow is also expected to move on, with Middlesbrough leading a batch of Championship clubs who are battling for his services.

While progress on Pope’s signing has proved relatively smooth, Newcastle have experienced a series of difficulties that have hampered their attempts to sign both Hugo Ekitike and Sven Botman. The Magpies have not given up on either deal yet, but the prospect of either being resolved successfully has receded significantly in the last week.

Newcastle officials had hoped that Ekitike would travel to Tyneside to undergo a medical this week, but despite the Magpies having agreed a deal with Reims for the striker, they have been unable to reach an agreement with the 20-year-old and his representatives.

While Borussia Dortmund have effectively drawn a line under their interest in Ekitike, preferring instead to make a move for Ajax striker Sebastien Haller, Newcastle’s recruitment team fear the forward is holding out for the possibility of an offer from reigning French champions Paris St Germain.

As a result, Ekitike has refused to commit to a move to Tyneside, a stance that has resulted in the Magpies reassessing their options.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is regarded as a viable alternative, although Newcastle are still to make a formal approach to Everton over the England international.

Their pursuit of Botman is also deadlocked, with the Dutch centre-half seemingly keen on a move to Italian champions AC Milan. However, with Milan still either unable to unwilling to match the initial £30m fee Newcastle have agreed with Lille, the situation has not really changed in the last seven days.