Former Newcastle United goalkeeper Freddie Woodman has discussed how him and Steve Bruce had a stand-off over the phone over his prepared exit from St James' Park.
The now Preston North End shot-stopper made four appearances in the Premier League for the Magpies last season but was originally meant to be joining Bournemouth on their quest for promotion from the Championship.
In the season previous, he'd kept 20 clean sheets for Swansea out on loan on their way to the playoffs but the 26-year-old claims that it was strange going back to his parent club.
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"Yeah, it was weird [coming back to Newcastle]," Woodman admitted on the The Yours, Mine, Away! Podcast. "Obviously I've come back to Newcastle after playing 80 games for Swansea, buzzing, we made the playoffs.
"But I came back and there was noise that I was going to go [on loan] again. So I went to see the manager Steve Bruce, and he said: 'You're not needed'.
"I thought, 'Well that's perfect, unreal'. So I was going to sign for Bournemouth, came down to London to do my medical, was happy with Bournemouth and I thought they were a great club, they could push to go up and they've got quality players.
"I was all done and dusted, had my bags packed and the day I was meant to fly to Marbella on holiday, Steve Bruce calls me and he says: 'You need to come back'.
"He said, 'Dubravka has come back from his internationals and needs an operation, you need to come back, you're going to be on the bench.' There was a bit of a stand-off for a little bit, but I ended up going back.
"I go back to pre-season, [Karl] Darlow gets Covid really bad and I've been in close contact with him so I've got to isolate for 14 days now. After 14 days, I've come back and the season has already started. I've had no pre-season because I'm here, there and everywhere, Darlow still has Covid and can't play.
"So I played the first five games of the season and made my Premier League debut, came out of the team and went on loan to Bournemouth in the January."
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