Marcel Bout – Newcastle’s new chief of global scouting – has revealed his mission to find ‘the new Haaland, Bellingham and Musiala’ following his appointment at St James’ Park.
Our latest off-field recruit has confirmed that he’s ‘focusing on young talent up to 23 years old’, searching for players with the potential to break into Eddie Howe’s first team.
The former Man Utd and Bayern Munich talent spotter reveals that he’ll ‘look everywhere’ for the next big thing and attempt to ‘find the pounds among the pennies’, aiming to spot and recruit young gems ‘before they are worth £100m.’
Here’s what he told the Sunday Mirror when asked about the task at hand at Newcastle:
“I am looking for the new Haaland, Bellingham and Musiala. I am focusing on young talent up to 23-years-old who have the potential to get into Newcastle’s first team.
“My motto is that if you constantly look to the left then you can’t see anything on the right. So I look everywhere. Newcastle have brought me in to find all the big talents. I want to find the pounds among the pennies.
“It is my ambition to not only point out those big talents, but also to put everything into place so these players immediately arrive at Newcastle United. I want to bring them in before they are worth £100 million.”
Bout then discussed his decision to join Newcastle, saying “I am really happy that I can work again – and what a club to work for.
“Newcastle is some club. Only a few weeks ago Paris Saint-Germain was wiped of the pitch in Newcastle. I think I know why Newcastle knocked on my door. At Manchester United I had a similar role.
“The head of scouting Newcastle have in place is responsible for the players who go directly into the first team. But this club has grown so big that they need sufficient people to run the scouting department. You can’t find top-class players and top talent with potential at the same time.”
Dan Ashworth has previously talked up the importance of spotting and signing top youngsters before they become ultra-expensive stars, so Bout’s arrival is a welcome boost as we continue to work alongside FFP restrictions.
