Pope suffered a shoulder injury in the closing stages of Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Erik ten Hag’s side with Martin Dubravka coming onto replace him for the final minutes.
Eddie Howe offered a bleak update after the win at S James’ Park and while the Magpies are awaiting the results of a scan, reports suggest he will likely need surgery and could face up to five months out.
That timeline would keep the England international out until May and while he could return before the end of the 2023-24 campaign, his absence will serve as a major blow.
Newcastle are already considering targets to bring in as a replacement with de Gea one option the club are currently looking at, the Mail report.
The Spaniard is a free agent having bee released by United after 12 years at Old Trafford in the summer.
De Gea was thought to be earning £375,000-a-week on his last contract in Manchester and would have to accept a lower offer were Newcastle to firm up their interest.
De Gea is still looking for a new club having been linked with moves to Inter Milan and Bayern Munich since leaving United.
The former Atletico Madrid shot stopper reportedly favoured a return to Spain and has most recently been linked with a move to join Inter Miami in the MLS.
De Gea has also been back in Manchester in recent weeks, fuelling speculation over an unlikely return to the club with his replacement Andre Onana struggling.
Howe, speaking about his Pope’s injury after the victory against United, told the BBC: ‘It looks bad. It looks like a dislocation.
‘He’s done it before and had it operated on and come back successfully. But I don’t know what the future holds for him, I don’t know if he will need an operation or not, but we will get it checked out and fingers crossed he will be back soon.’
Asked about Pope on TNT Sports, Howe added: ‘It will be a massive blow for us if he is ruled out for any length of time.
‘It looked really innocuous, but that is usually the way and they are normally the more serious ones. You could see he was in distress and it looked like he dislocated his shoulder just diving.’
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