Lukas Hornicek may have been signed to become Newcastle’s first-choice goalkeeper – but fans will shortly be begging for Nick Pope’s return.That’s the view of England cricket icon and Magpies fan Steve Harmison, who believes the 24-year-old could lose his place in the team by October.Hornicek is expected to be Newcastle’s No.1 goalkeeper for the upcoming seasonAFPNewcastle splashed out £25.7million to prise Hornicek away from Braga at the start of August.Hornicek, who is regarded as one of Europe’s top young shot-stoppers, has started three times for the Toon in pre-season.But despite making a few glaring mistakes, he is expected to be named in Matthias Jaissle’ starting XI in Sunday’s Premier League opener against Liverpool at St James’ Park.The one-cap Czech Republic international is one of two goalkeepers that have joined Newcastle this summer along with Ewen Jaouen from Reims in a deal worth £18m.It has been a summer of change in Tyneside so far this window, with the club selling Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon – while also releasing Kieran Trippier.That is in addition to Eddie Howe stepping down, with Jaissle coming in to replace him in the dugout.Newcastle have so far brought in six players – all aged 24 or younger – leading many to question whether they could challenge for a European spot.What has been said about Newcastle’s transfers this summer?And when speaking on the talkSPORT Breakfast show on Wednesday, Harmison was asked whether Newcastle will struggle this season as a result of key players moving on.To which said: “I just look at Newcastle’s recruitment, I don’t think they’ve improved the starting XI, which is an understatement because of what they’ve lost.“I think some of the players that we have signed, I don’t believe are quite ready to play in the Premier League.Hornicek recorded 24 clean sheets across all competitions for Braga last campaignGetty“[Sean] Steur looks a good player from Ajax, but he’s 18, is he ready?“Probably not to play against a [Alexis] McAllister or a [Dominik] Szoboszlai on the opening day of the season [against Liverpool].”Will Nick Pope replace Lukas Hornicek in goal?Moving on to the situation between the sticks, Harmison then tipped Pope to be recalled back to the line-up – despite many supporters wanting him sold.The England international was even labelled as one of the Premier League’s worst goalkeepers towards the end of last season.Pope hasn’t featured in pre-season since the 4-1 defeat at Bristol City last month.Commenting on the No.1 battle, Harmison added: “I look at the goalkeeper, a lot of people talk about it.Pope has featured in 131 games for the Magpies since joining from Burnley in 2022Getty“I’m going to make a statement, people won’t like this from a Newcastle fans point of view.“But I reckon we’ll be calling for Nick Pope back in goal by October.“Because Newcastle being under pressure, they might need somebody to keep the ball out of the net rather than a goalkeeper with good feet.“I think they are little decisions the manager is going to have to take, because Newcastle, I don’t think it’ll be a bad, bad season.“But I don’t think it’ll be a season of good cheer like we’ve had over the course of the first four-and-a-half-years from Eddie Howe.”To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream or find us on DAB digital radio through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.Download and listen to all our live commentaries via the talkSPORT app here.Visit talkSPORT BET for all the latest odds and bet boosts for every big event.Subscribe to our YouTube channel here for news, views and analysis plus our regular goals show and for more, follow us on talkSPORT Facebook and talkSPORT X.