- Newcastle owner approve new recruitment roles
- Club focusing on younger talent
- What it means for Eddie Howe
Newcastle United’s owners, PIF, have reportedly approved new recruitment roles amid a shift toward a younger, higher-upside approach to signing players, per Chronicle Live.
The club will be looking to employ a head of academy recruitment alongside some new scouting roles in areas of interest such as Scandinavia, France and Holland.
The Magpies have already all but confirmed the signing of 16-year-old Johan Martinez from Independiente del Valle. There is also reportedly interest in Palmeiras youngster Eduardo Conceição in the coming months.
Newcastle recruit new staff
The Magpies’ first foray into the market for recruitment staff actually came back in December. At that time, Thomas Federspiel was appointed as Newcastle’s Global Talent Scout for Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia.
That appointment has already seen success. The aforementioned Martinez is all but signed, and Conceicao is currently under a £25m bid from the club as they look to further bolster their young talent.
Now, the ownership is doubling down on the new plans to reduce the age of the squad. The new roles are set to target areas where the club sees market opportunities with younger players.
The French league has historically translated well to the Premier League, with players like Eden Hazard making transfers at a young age. The Netherlands has been similar; in recent times, players like Ajax graduate Jurrien Timber have come over and done well.
Scandinavia is seen as an area largely left un-scouted by some of Europe’s elite. But the area has shown it can produce talent. Top players like Erling Haaland and Viktor Gyokeres have spouted from those nations in recent times.
Employing scouts specifically for those regions is seen as a step forward for the club and matches the ambition to become one of Europe’s elite in the coming years.
Academy focus continues
The new ownership quickly identified the lacklustre academy as a place to improve when they first arrived. Since then, some big efforts have been made domestically to bring top talent to Newcastle’s books.
This year alone, Leo Shahar, Sean Neave and Alex Murphy have all made first-team appearances.
There are also some big expectations for youngsters such as Michael Mills and Sam Alabi. Both of which are tipped for big things in the professional game.
The most prominent graduate currently in the first team setup is Lewis Miley. Miley has established himself as one of the Premier League’s top talents. Both his performances in midfield and, more recently, right back have been mightily impressive.
Newcastle’s academy will further benefit from the proposed improvements to the training ground too. Showing just how much value the club is putting on bringing through homegrown young talent in the future.
What it means for Eddie Howe
Interestingly, this shift in approach may give us a damning insight into the future of Eddie Howe.
The Newcastle boss has come under pressure this season for the team’s lacklustre performances. This has led to CEO David Hopkinson essentially giving Howe an ultimatum: get European football this season or he will be sacked.
However, it currently appears that the club is preparing for a life after Eddie Howe no matter what, mainly shown in this shift in focus to younger signings.
Howe has gained a reputation for favouring established, more experienced names for his system. This has guided the club to the current position of needing to lower the squad’s average age.
The Newcastle gaffer will not put players in the firing line until he is absolutely sure they can give him exactly what he wants on the pitch. This is a sentiment which largely informs his lack of trust in young, raw and inexperienced players.
Whilst the names mentioned in Neave, Murphy and Shahar have all made appearances, Howe has seemingly been reluctant to hand them chances across the season.
Murphy, now 21, has been particularly vocal about his frustrations at not being trusted with more minutes in the first team.
That being said, the club actively seeking out younger talent appears to be a sign that Howe may not be at the club for much longer. Either that, or the manager is being tasked with entirely changing his philosophies ahead of next season.
