Newcastle interest 'real' for key appointment after Ashworth

Journalist Dean Jones has confirmed that Newcastle are genuinely interested in raiding Brighton for the third time in less than a month to bring their academy manager John Morling to St James’ Park.

The Magpies have shown they mean business since being taken over by a consortium backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in October, and they have now set their sights on improving the youth system at the club.

Newcastle signed defender Dan Burn from Brighton on deadline day in January, and they have since managed to entice the South Coast club’s technical director Dan Ashworth to Tyneside as well. He is due to take up his position once his gardening leave ends.

Now, they have turned their attention to Morling, who has been at Brighton for the past decade.

During that period, he has overseen the development of the likes of Ben White and Robert Sanchez. The former moved to Arsenal for £50m last summer, while goalkeeper Sanchez has cemented his place as Brighton’s No. 1 over the past couple of years.

Jones believes Newcastle are serious in their pursuit of Morling, and has claimed the experienced coach now needs to decide whether he wants to stick with Brighton or move to the North-East.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Morling has built a great reputation and now has a big decision to make, because the interest is real.

“From a professional point of view this would really push the boundaries of how far he can test himself but at the same time he has to balance out the relocation to the North-East and having to prove himself from scratch.”

Absolutely.

Newcastle may have seemingly unlimited funds to rely upon, but it is still important to bring players through the academy.

We have seen in recent years how Manchester City