Newcastle United confirmed their first summer arrival on Monday as they announced the capture of Odense youngster Yankuba Minteh. The 18-year-old Gambian winger has been tracked by the Magpies for many months after impressive displays in the Danish top flight and will officially join the club on July 1st.
Newcastle have wasted no time loaning Minteh out, sending him straight to Dutch champions Feyenoord, who could play at St James' Park in the Champions League next season. The teenager will spend a season in the Netherlands before being assessed over his first-team capabilities.
Minteh is likely to be the first of many when it comes to these type of deals as Newcastle scour the globe for the best young talent available. The north east outfit won the race for Garang Kuol in similar circumstances last season before sending the Australian north of the border for a loan stint with Hearts.
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Sporting director Dan Ashworth is keen to stock Newcastle's youth ranks with highly-rated prospects with the aim of one day breaking them into Eddie Howe's first-team, thus simultaneously saving the club money on senior players in years to come.
It is a tactic that has worked wonders for Brighton after Ashworth's influence at the Seagulls. Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi have reaped the rewards of Brighton's stance of finding hidden gems in obscure countries before loaning them out to gain experience.
Liverpool-bound Alexis Mac Allister was plucked from Argentinos Juniors before being loaned back to the club and then to Boca Juniors before becoming one of the first names on the Brighton teamsheet. Moises Caicedo, who is expected to fetch £70m-plus this summer, was signed from Ecuador's Independente del Valle for £4.5m and was sent to Belgian outfit Beerschot on loan before being given a chance in the Premier League.
Kaoru Mitoma was spotted while at the Olympics but played his club football at Kawasaki Frontale in Japan. He was loaned to Brighton's sister club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise before returning to England and impressing in the Premier League. The aforementioned trio were all signed for minimal fees and are now worth tens of millions.
Discussing Kuol's loan deal last season and explaining how difficult Brexit had made life for overseas talent gaining visas, Ashworth explained his loan philosophy.
"We have to look at different ways to bring talent into the club through different routes. One of them is maybe they go straight out on loan," he said in 2022. "The work criteria in order to get GBE points in order to come in is fairly complex, and therefore coming out of certain leagues that might be band four, five or six, maybe that player needs a loan experience before they can get the right points to work in the Premier League.
"With my previous club, there are some players who have benefited from that where they have been acquired, had a loan experience and then come successfully into the Premier League."
Newcastle have already shown they are looking to improve their youth setup and find future stars. The likes of Charlie McArthur, Jude Smith, Jordan Hackett and Alex Murphy were all brought in from across the UK and Ireland last season, while Kuol was poached from Down Under.
Kuol will likely be loaned out once again next term, along with Lewis Miley - who impressed at the tail end of last season. You can expect Newcastle to continue the tactic of bringing in low-risk youngsters who could turn out to be stars further down the line.
