"They'll be looking..": Insider drops exciting NUFC transfer claim, Howe will love it - opinion

An exciting Newcastle United transfer claim has been made regarding their plans for the summer window…

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has stated that the club will lean into deals similar to the one they attempted to complete with Hugo Ekitike in January.

The Magpies reportedly had a bid of £33m accepted by Reims in the last transfer window to sign the teenage striker, only for the player to reject the move at the last minute.

O’Rourke told GIVEMESPORT: “I think the way Newcastle are looking right now, Eddie Howe and his plans going forward, I think they’ll be looking to try and sign some of the best young talent in Europe, which they tried to do in January with Ekitike at Reims.”

Toon boss Eddie Howe will surely love this approach for multiple reasons.

Firstly, it could save the club millions in two different ways. Firstly, signing a player at such a young age means that you are not buying them at their peak.

This means that you accept a risk that they may not fulfil their potential to avoid paying millions more for them when they are 25 and playing to the best of their abilities.

Take Jack Grealish as an example. Aston Villa reportedly wanted £30m for the midfielder in 2018 before selling him to Manchester City for a British record £100m in the summer of 2021. In theory, Pep Guardiola would have saved the club £70m by bringing him in earlier and developing him at the Etihad, rather than waiting for him to get to a point where he was deemed good enough.

This highlights one potential benefit to signing players at a young age. Another is that it gives them a longer shelf life at the club. Instead of having four or five years in their peak years to make an impact before being replaced, they could be at the club for eight or