Over the weekend, Newcastle United gave 14-year-old academy talent Sam Alabi his U18 Premier League debut, less than a year after he signed from Oldham Athletic.
At surface level, it’s a testament to Sam’s talent and hard work, but when you look deeper, it highlights the success of Newcastle United’s new academy strategy that has allowed it to recruit top talents such as Trevan Sanusi, Alfie Harrison and Leo Shahar.
Newcastle U21s team is a prime example of the academy’s unique selling point, with Steve Harper recently stating the “U21s team will be 16, 17 and 18-year-olds”, affirming that the club could “clog” it with 21-year-olds and compete at the top of Premier League 2, but would prefer accelerated learning for younger players.
Giving opportunities younger is guaranteed to appeal to the country’s top talents, particularly those who feel they are ahead of their peers and want to take next step.
This strategy exposes younger players to some tough experiences, as evidenced by the U21s recently losing 7-1 to Chelsea U21s at home. Newcastle first team manager Eddie Howe asked Steve Harper about this loss, with Harper responding that they’d had a “tough one” but these tough experiences “build resillience”. Eddie Howe responded by saying, “I’m 100 percent behind that.”
This unique selling point and the club’s recent move to a full-time training model has allowed the academy to recruit top talents such as Sam Alabi, Trevan Sanusi, Alfie Harrison, Michael Mills, Sammy Pinnington and Kacey Wooster.
Although you might not know their names now, some of these players will go on to be part of Newcastle United’s future.
Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/04/10/the-reason-newcastles-academy-is-now-attracting-some-of-the-countrys-best-talent/
Author : TomTalksToon
Publish date : 2024-04-10 12:20:13
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