According to the Chronicle, Newcastle are eyeing deals to bring in TWO new players at U-23 level – having scouted highly-rated goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu and Slovakian striker David Strelec recently.
The piece also confirms that we are all set to announce the signing of Yannick Toure ‘later in the summer’ now the 17-year-old Young Boys striker has agreed a contract with the club.
Whilst it’s first-team signings that we’re craving right now – with just 24 days of the transfer window left to run – it’s good to see us making an effort to bring in some top young talent at U-23 level; especially after so many of the current crop were released earlier this summer.
Here’s a snippet from Mark Douglas’ piece, starting with our pursuit of ‘teenage sensation’ Gavin Bazunu – the 16-year-old goalkeeper who’s already broken into the senior set up with Shamrock Rovers:
Newcastle United watched 16-year-old Shamrock Rovers goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu – the teenage sensation who kept four straight clean sheets in his first four games as a senior player.
United are the latest Premier League club to watch Bazunu, the 16-year-old who is keeping Northern Ireland goalkeeper Alan Mannus out of the Rovers first team, after Liverpool scouted him last week.
He has made a name for himself by becoming the youngest player to play for Shamrock in the SSE Airtricity League and has spent time on trial at Celtic and Brighton recently. He went 434 minutes before conceding a goal – which came in the Europa League against Swedish side AIK.
The 16-year-old has been praised as “special” and only takes his Leaving Certificate – the Irish equivalent of GCSEs – this summer. He saved a penalty against Cork City in a brilliant display last week and his manager Stephen Bradley says his potential is “scary”.
The piece then confirms that a deal for Toure is imminent, also confirming our interest in Slovan Bratislava forward David Strelec:
The club look to recruit players to their under-23 set-up – with Swiss striker Yannick Toure set to be announced later in the summer after agreeing a contract with the Magpies.
United are also interested in 17-year-old Slovakia centre-forward David Strelec, who plays for Slovan Bratislava and will look to recruit others.
This won’t solve the unease on Tyneside as far as first-team additions are concerned, but at least the club are making efforts to bolster the squads underbelly.
Hopefully this recruitment drive at U-23 level will allow us to see far more youngsters make the step up over the coming years.
