Swiss defender Kevin Mbabu has signed a two-year contract extension with Newcastle United, while three other young Magpies have also penned professional contracts.
Mbabu joined Newcastle from Swiss outfit Servette in 2013, after impressing on trial on Tyneside. Despite only making five first-team appearances since arriving at St James’ Park, the 19-year-old has been a hit with the fans and the news of his two-year extension has certainly gone down well with the Geordie faithful.
Twitter: Yayyyy. Mbabu > Taylor every day of the week! Happy about this. Well done again @NUFC https://t.co/Q2b7QHWsds (@chokoladebjorn)
Twitter: Looking forward to Kevin Mbabu’s 9 games over the next 2 years. (@JimmyD_123)
Twitter: Sounds like we’ve finally got rid of Taylor! And Mbabu apparently getting offered a new contract is a good move #nufc (@talknufc_)
As well as Mbabu, Macaulay Gillesphey, Liam Smith and Tom Heardman have also signed professional contracts. Gillesphey and Smith spent last season on loan at Carlisle and Blackpool respectively, while Heardman’s season was plagued by injury.
Stefan Broccoli, Kyle Cameron, Liam Gibson, Brendan Pearson and Callum Williams have all been offered professional contracts, while Academy players Luke Charman, Jamie Holmes, Jack Hunter, Sean Longstaff, Michael Newberry, Ben Smith, Dan Ward and Paul Woolston have been given extended scholarships.
Amongst all the new contracts, the club have confirmed the departures of Jamie Cobain, Louis Johnson, Adam Laidler, Ben Pollock, Lewis Suddick and Jake Trodd, as well as Steven Taylor.
One key piece of information is that there is no mention of Rolando Aarons and Freddie Woodman, amid speculation that their contracts were set to expire this summer. We can only assume the club activated the contract extension clauses.
