Newcastle had an excellent winter window adding five signings that have helped propel them out of the bottom three. The seriousness of the situation in January had the club focus solely on the senior squad.
That will not be the case this summer when the Academy will get some sorely needed attention. We can likely expect to see a number of youngsters signed to improve the club at the development level.
One player that would be a fantastic addition is West Brom’s Reyes Cleary (pictured above). The 18-year-old was first linked in March in a report from The Mail. At the time, The Baggies were trying to get their prized youngster to sign a new deal.
The interest in the young striker is immense. Newcastle, Arsenal, and Bayern Munich are a few of the clubs tracking the teenager. He has bagged over 30 goals for West Brom’s U18s and U23s this season.
His exploits earned him a call-up to senior training late last year. He made his debut as a second-half substitute in West Brom’s FA Cup defeat against Brighton in early January.
Cleary has reportedly already made his decision to leave The Hawthorns when his contract expires at the end of next month. The decision was made a few months ago according to a report in Birmingham Live:
Cleary recently posted a hint on his Instagram account that his days with West Brom are coming to an end as he wrote alongside a photo of him in training, “What a journey it’s been! Thank you for everything!”
Newcastle could be a good destination for the prolific youngster. Eddie Howe has consistently called up members of the U23s to train with the first team since his arrival. A path to the senior squad seems more likely on Tyneside than with The Gunners or Bayern Munich.
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111 comments so far
kilcline
May 11, 2022 at 12:58 PM
Comment #1Signing youngsters before the likes of Liverpool and spurs is key to our long term success
Mag52
May 11, 2022 at 1:13 PM
Comment #2Our excellent relations with West Brom’s present manager can only help us get this young talent.
valle
May 11, 2022 at 1:16 PM
Comment #3Regarding Lingard not signing… Thank god. Him on a huge wage would have been a page out of the book of “things not to do with your new found wealth”.
valle
May 11, 2022 at 1:21 PM
Comment #4Now to stay clear of Coutinho, Hazard, Pickford and all the outcasts who can’t get playing time for Manure and Liverpool that the media seems to think is such a good fit for us.
ToonDarnSarf
May 11, 2022 at 1:23 PM
Comment #5As has been pointed out, comparing us to Man City is not really relevant. Man City were at a different point in their journey to the top than us, their squad already had more quality players, and the Premier League was different (for one, it didn’t have another Man City in it).
So far, everything that has been done has been excellent in my opinion. I see no reason to doubt that won’t continue. It doesn’t mean guaranteed success and doesn’t mean that everything will pay off but we’re 100% moving in the right direction on all fronts.
ToonDarnSarf
May 11, 2022 at 1:32 PM
Comment #6I’d have thought that recent results would have proven how far behind the top 6 we actually are. Fringe players in those teams can definitely help us if they’ve got the motivation to do so. I don’t care if people consider them “rejects” from these clubs. Is Willock an Arsenal reject?
Adamn_92
May 11, 2022 at 1:32 PM
Comment #7Valle
We no longer have to be a club that scurries around looking for any scraps from ‘the big boys’. Any players they want rid and can’t get games, we don’t have to be a lifeline for the club or player anymore. We can go after top quality players and certainly compete with other clubs for targets. Bruno and Trippier suggest that. Top players at their clubs and i’m sure their clubs would love to had kept them, but we managed to get them. Those quality signings and the upcoming stars should be the focus.
ottawageordie2
May 11, 2022 at 1:35 PM
Comment #8No to Lingard. Does not warrant the wages. Pause and think for a moment. He couldn’t even get into the starting lineup with a mediocre team. He does not deserve to be paid more than our best players. Just a money grabber out to cash in for the last few years of his career.
Younger, better and hungrier are out there. No need fir the owners to make desperate and rash decisions. We have time to build a great team.
ToonDarnSarf
May 11, 2022 at 1:36 PM
Comment #9How about Matt Targett the Villa reject? Manquillo and Shelvey the Liverpool rejects? Hayden the Arsenal reject?
I don’t care who doesn’t want them. If they’re good enough then I welcome them.
ToonDarnSarf
May 11, 2022 at 1:37 PM
Comment #10ottawageordie2 – Man Utd are in 6th place and most would say have underperformed based on some of the quality players they have. So they’re not a mediocre team.
Adamn_92
May 11, 2022 at 1:38 PM
Comment #11TDS
In fairness, Willock was highly thought of at Arsenal and by their fans who saw him as a talent. He just couldn’t get into the team as there were too many ahead of him, though he did make a fair few appearences. Then we loaned him first, he basically saved our season on his own and then we bought him, all pre-takeover. He also has time on his side due to his age. So wouldn’t really put him in the same category as players pushing 30 who clubs are looking to shift and barely getting a game.
Adamn_92
May 11, 2022 at 1:39 PM
Comment #12TDS
Targett again is a loan and so far we haven’t committed to buying as the owners and Howe may be looking at better. Manquillo, Shelvey, Hayden all improved us at the time, but again that is pre-takeover. So going forward we’re less likely to make those purchases I would guess.
valle
May 11, 2022 at 1:41 PM
Comment #13Adamn… Exactly how I see it as well. Time and time again, I have seen both us and other teams who want to reach the next level spend to much on players who are living off their prior reputation. Only for them to fail, show no fight and perhaps even unsettle the team.
Mund
May 11, 2022 at 1:44 PM
Comment #14TheOther14
@Other14The
·
25m
Leaders in Chances Created, not counting set-pieces, from TheOther14 in the #PL season so far.
@Other14The
@asaintmaximin
still has the most.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FSegE0qWYAEno8l?format=jpg&name=medium
valle
May 11, 2022 at 1:44 PM
Comment #15TDS… There are only one of those players you mention who has the skills to be a player for what we need going forward and that’s Targett. And he wasn’t exactly a Villa reject was he? It never got to that point, because he wasn’t having it, not getting playing time and just picking up his wages. The others you mention are all well and good for a team not wanting to get relegated, and in any regard they dont command transfer fees and wages like the for instance the wages wanted by Manure reject Lingard did they?
ToonDarnSarf
May 11, 2022 at 1:44 PM
Comment #16Adamn_92 – I don’t really see the difference there. Arsenal decided that Willock wouldn’t have a prominent role with them this season and seemingly weren’t confident for the following season either or they could have loaned him out for a season. Basically they deemed him not good enough for a team that was likely to be in the 4-6th battle. Lingard is the same. It’s not as if Lingard needs to be a player for us for 10 years but if he does the job for 2-3 years, then he’s worth signing.
valle
May 11, 2022 at 1:46 PM
Comment #17Also bar Willock, who was a youngster seeking first team football rather than some big headed has been on huge wages.
ToonDarnSarf
May 11, 2022 at 1:46 PM
Comment #18Adamn_92 – I don’t care if it’s a loan or permanent transfer really, as long as the player puts our shirt on and plays for us. My point it that Targett was unwanted by Villa but deemed good enough for us. I don’t really care if another club doesn’t want a player, if they’re good enough to do a job for us and they want to be here, then I’d welcome their arrival if Howe wants them here.
dazzler
May 11, 2022 at 1:48 PM
Comment #19£150k per week is what we brought Trippier on isn’t it, so not like it’s out of our wage structure really.
Add to the fact that he’s good/best mates with the aforementioned right back it’s not like he’d disrupt the harmony in the dressing room. Whack him wide right in front of Trippier and we could see him recapture his Hammers form.
I’d pay it. It’s mental that people are opposed to this, Maxi is on circa £100k, Shelvey the same. Lingard is better than both.
Mund
May 11, 2022 at 1:50 PM
Comment #20Exactly Dazzler
Many are letting there feelings get in the way of logic
ToonDarnSarf
May 11, 2022 at 1:50 PM
Comment #21valle – why do you care about the wages side of things? I don’t really understand how some fans are hung up on the financial side of things when that doesn’t seem interesting at all to me. I doubt even Howe will be that bothered about that, he’ll let other people do the contractual negotiations with the players’ agents.
Targett was absolutely a Villa reject just as much as Lingard and Willock are/were rejects for their teams. None of them were getting the minutes they wanted and all 3 wanted to move because of that. I just don’t see the difference. I think it’s some kind of weird issue some fans have about getting the hand me downs from the likes of Liverpool or Man Utd.
dazzler
May 11, 2022 at 1:52 PM
Comment #22Mund,
What bloody chances are those? Scuffed/Over hit shots, misplaced passes into the box, crap crosses or dribbling straight into a CB?
What defines a ‘chance’ for the stats, do they ever say?
I’d argue Maxi has created more chances for the opposition since Jan by wastefully giving the ball away.
Raj of Hailsley
May 11, 2022 at 1:53 PM
Comment #23Mund,
So Man City’s new owners didn’t really get anything wrong at all. But you’d rather get the snip again than admit you were mistaken about that 😀
valle
May 11, 2022 at 1:54 PM
Comment #24It’s not happening apparently, so there is no point discussing it. But you guys who want Lingard so bad, how happy were you when Butt signed? Did you expect him to be the defensive midfielder we needed to get into the top 4 again? I did. And in another point, how many of you knew Bruno would be the player he has turned out to be for us? I wouldn’t believe you anyway, so dont bother answering that. But THAT is the type of signings we need. Top, top players who hasn’t been snapped up by a top club yet and who has the best years in front of him.
Zhongguo Geordie
May 11, 2022 at 1:55 PM
Comment #25If Lingaard could replicate that West Ham form, he wouldn’t have spent the last ten years on the bench. 150k for a player just because he did a Willock (8 shots 8 goals) for me is a bad idea, especially when you’ve just spent a fortune on the last player who did a Willock. Personally I was doing summersaults when we didn’t get Lingaard for 12m for 3 months for a loan. He always disappointed me and seemed the definition of bland when he played for England.
dazzler
May 11, 2022 at 1:55 PM
Comment #26TDS,
Exactly, most players playing for smaller teams are rejects from larger teams.
Kasper Schmeichel is a Man City reject, he’s still a solid goalie who I’d not say no to if he was available. Dean Henderson is a fantastic keeper, and a Man Utd reject. I have become stuck on a goalie loop here, but most players were rejects from somewhere.
Mund
May 11, 2022 at 1:55 PM
Comment #27No I just won’t respond to your nonsense and agenda driven life
Raj of Hailsley
May 11, 2022 at 1:56 PM
Comment #28valle,
I thought SBR’s signing of NB was a masterstroke, that went well 😕
ToonDarnSarf
May 11, 2022 at 1:59 PM
Comment #29valle – we have no idea if the Lingard transfer will happen or not. Various parts of the media will continue to flip flop on that transfer until he actually moves somewhere. It’s naive to suggest the matter is settled just because of one journalist’s comment.
The kind of player we need is someone who will improve the squad. I frankly don’t give a stuff if it’s a £40m signing from the French league, a 30 year old free transfer from a top 6 PL club, a £100m transfer from Italy, or a £5m signing from League Two.
Mund
May 11, 2022 at 2:00 PM
Comment #30Dazzler
Don’t shoot the messenger 😉
As frustrating as he is I do think with better players he would of had better stats.
dazzler
May 11, 2022 at 2:00 PM
Comment #31Valle,
I was happy when Butt signed, Alan Smith too. Because they came from a team being managed by Sir Alex. Both were disappointing, mainly because Butt was disinterested and Smith never got over his horror injury.
Would you have been this miserable if we’d signed a player like Berbatov from Man Utd when he wasn’t getting game time? Or Tevez, or Giggs when he was knocking on a bit?
Cheer up man, Lingard is an upgrade on what we have. If we sign him, I’ll be happy. If we don’t then I have faith we’ll get someone else. Either way we’ll be better off as a team.
valle
May 11, 2022 at 2:01 PM
Comment #32TDS… It’s not that I care about wages as such, but since we are to follow FFP and as such have a wage structure we need to follow, I care that it’s been used right. And I am 99% certain it will I might add, because I have been nothing but impressed by our new owners and their way of handling transfers and building for our future. So in reality I dont even believe we would go out and get Lingard or Coutinho (He is on 385k a week right?)… As I said, I have just seen it go wrong much more than I have seen a top club reject (remember Im talking about big rep players on big wages here) ending up doing what everyone thought he would… Owen is the biggest failure I can think if in that regard.
Adamn_92
May 11, 2022 at 2:01 PM
Comment #33TDS
That’s fine if you don’t care and i’m sure plenty of our fans will feel the same way as you, just as some will feel the same way as me. It’s just personal preference at the end of the day. You don’t mind us getting those players whereas I would like to see us go down a different route. Again all the players you mention were either pre-takeover (so a good player for us in our current state and with Ashley not willing to spend) or Targett for example was a January essential for our situation. Going forward I don’t see us going after those type of transfers/deals.
But obviously it goes without saying that if we did sign Lingard or any other ‘cast off’ ‘reject’ or whatever terms fans want to use, form a bigger club then I will welcome them here, hope they do well, support them and trust in Howe for signing them.
It’s just that my personal preference would be to go for players who are upcoming stars, not pushing 30 or are from one of ‘the big boys’ trying to get rid of their ‘deadwood’. Just a preference which will vary fan to fan.
Mund
May 11, 2022 at 2:01 PM
Comment #34Trippier is on a 100K a week the most in the squad
ToonDarnSarf
May 11, 2022 at 2:03 PM
Comment #35Dazzler – we’ve rejected a few players ourselves who have done rather well for themselves after leaving too. Pretty sure the clubs they moved to were glad they weren’t too proud to sign a NUFC reject…
Saha, Distin, Mbabu, Ginola, Milner, Solano, even a young Shearer!
Mund
May 11, 2022 at 2:03 PM
Comment #36Targett wasn’t a Villa reject tho
He was the fans player of the year last year and only lost his place when Stevie G came in.
dazzler
May 11, 2022 at 2:03 PM
Comment #37Mund,
Maxi is that you? Hahaha.
Honestly, I think with Wilson back he’ll be better. He prefers a more mobile player to time his runs that Maxi is usually pretty good at picking out.
The problem is he seem incapable to adapt to a different type of player in front of him. If you’re our biggest creative force you need to use your brain more.
Wilson – Drive towards the box and lay him off to finish.
Wood – Drive out wide and pump high balls into the box.
He’s tried to take the Wilson approach with Wood and it was always doomed to fail.
Zhongguo Geordie
May 11, 2022 at 2:03 PM
Comment #38I think Evans is the exception to the rule, of an established player being demoted from a trophy chasing team to a lower team and maintaining his ability. Probably a few others, but so many more Butts, Campbells, Geremis, Roni Johnsens, Kluiverts, Alan Smith, Duffs, Owens. It used to be Shepherds modus operandi snapping up these types. One good thing about Ashley, he cottoned onto that pretty quickly when we went down.
Adamn_92
May 11, 2022 at 2:05 PM
Comment #39Also yeah, worth repeating what Valle said. It’s essentially the players with a big rep pushing 30, on high wages that the ‘big boys’ want to get rid of, who are the players to avoid. In my eyes.
Mund
May 11, 2022 at 2:06 PM
Comment #40Dazzler 😆
Do you remember last season I think it was when he got a hattrick of assists? He can do it but I actually think that game he played off the right and why I and a good few others have said he is better on that side. On the left he just wants to cut inside on his right foot and shoot but on the right side he is so much more effective as a team player.