Yankuba Minteh joins Newcastle United
Newcastle United has planned for signing Yankuba Minteh from Danish side Odense. The 18 year old will join officially join them on July 1 before moving to Dutch side Feyenoord on loan for the 2023-24 season.
Minteh had four goals and six assists in 17 Superliga matches in 2022-23. “We are very pleased to be bringing a player with Yankuba’s high potential to Newcastle United,” said Magpies sporting director Dan Ashworth.
“He has done extremely well in his first full season in Denmark, and he has a promising career ahead of him.”
Minteh moved to Denmark last July after beginning his career at Gambian side Steve Biko FC. He has also played twice for Gambia in friendly internationals against DR Congo and Liberia. On the other hand, Arsenal closes the deal on signing Declan Rice with 100 million Euros.
“We look forward to working with him in this exciting phase of his development, and we’re excited to see how he performs at Feyenoord, a club that also has a strong development record of its own.
“As well as supporting the first team with players for the here and now, we have a clear philosophy to invest in emerging talent and we want to provide a player pathway that will help to build and sustain long-term success.” Bayern Munich had signed Konrad Laimer on the four year deals from Leipzig.
New Castle’s plan on signing new players
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. Real Madrid had closed the deal with £115m on signing Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund.
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.
