In the Saudi Arabian era, Newcastle United has primarily signed younger players.
Despite the prevailing belief that PIF’s acquisition of the team would result in a plethora of ready-made superstars joining Newcastle, this hasn’t exactly been the case.
Indeed, good players have obviously been signed and a huge amount of money has been spent but the recruitment has broadly been of younger players yet to become household names.
Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento and Sandro Tonali were all in their early-to-mid-twenties or younger, after all.
Broadly, it’s worked out pretty well. Guimaraes is the beating heart of this Newcastle team, while Isak has been hailed as a “generational talent”.
Gordon was tipped as one of the Premier League’s best players in the season just gone, while Botman dazzled before serious knee injuries.
Livramento proved a revelation at times, while things are improving for Hall.
The jury is still out on Tonali after his ban but it’s so far been a policy to have served Newcastle pretty well.
Which is why it’s interesting to see them linked with a move for a player hailed as having “the full package.”
London-born Samuel Iling-Junior has broken into the Juventus first-team after leaving the Chelsea academy and has been linked with Newcastle for a while now.
Now, some more insight has emerged.
Newcastle or Tottenham could sign Samuel Iling-Junior for a bargain price this summer
According to TuttoJuve, the Turin giants are actively looking to sell the 20-year-old.
They suggest his exit to either Newcastle or Tottenham “cannot be ruled out” at this stage and that Juve are looking for 15 millions euros, which roughly equates to £12.7m.
Who is Samuel Iling-Junior?
A product of the Chelsea academy, the England U21 international won the U19 Euros with his country in 2022.
A left-footed forward, he played both in midfield and on the wing for Juve last year, scoring one goal and registering two assists in 27 appearances.
Former Chelsea and Tottenham academy coach Saul Isaksson-Hurst was quoted by The Guardian in January as saying of the player: “I don’t think there is a ceiling to his potential
“I was hoping he might have been given more chances this season but he has become a first-team regular at Juve and is there or thereabouts.”
