Newcastle United have been credited with a transfer interest in Stoke City's young striker Nathan Lowe, and face the Potters' academy side on Friday night. However, the 17-year-old is not expected to feature with injuries elsewhere leading to an unexpected first-team call-up.
The Magpies are said to be 'tracking' Lowe according to a report last month, with the striker making an impact in the Premier League Cup. Lowe netted twice as Stoke knocked defending champions Manchester City out of the competition in November last year.
Eddie Howe and Dan Ashworth have both stressed the importance of completing more deals with the future in mind. A-League wonderkid Garang Kuol's mid-season arrival followed the likes of Jordan Hackett, Charlie McArthur, Alex Murphy, and Jude Smith last summer.
READ MORE: Newcastle warned to 'dig deep' for 'top prospect' who 'loves scoring goals' amid transfer link
Lowe had not made his senior debut at the time of the transfer link emerging, but made his first-team bow as a substitute in the away defeat to Blackpool last weekend. The teenager was an unused substitute in the midweek victory at Swansea City, and manager Alex Neil has spoken of the striker's unexpected promotion to the first-team setup.
Speaking prior to the win in South Wales, Neil told StokeonTrentLive: “He’s only really done a few days with us but he’s been thrust into the first team for a pretty important game. He’s gone from nought to 100 pretty quickly.
“You could see when he came on that he fights for every ball, he’s a good size, he’s certainly got a goal in him at the level he’s been playing at. He can link the game, pop it off, put himself in the box. For the brief time he was on the pitch I thought he did well.
“He’s only recently turned 17 and although he’s a really good player, he hasn’t had a load of exposure with the first team in training or games.
“We’ll try to bed him in as quickly as we can and get him minutes whenever it’s suitable – but also we don’t want to put too much demands on a young kid who has hadn’t had very much exposure at this level.”
Newcastle under-21s travel to Clayton Wood on Friday night for the rescheduled Premier League 2 fixture, with Ben Dawson still searching for his first win in charge since being named as Elliott Dickman's permanent successor. The Magpies' second-string fought back twice last time out to claim a home draw with Leeds United, but the result extended their winless run in all competitions to five matches.
* Newcastle United U21s return to Premier League 2 action on Friday night with an away clash at Stoke City. You can follow all of the updates as it happens here.
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