A general view of Newcastle United supporters waiting outside the stadium for news of the latest developments in the sale of the club to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund for 300 million-pound ($408 million) takeover in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England Thursday Oct. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
The Magpies have been monitoring the young midfielder since last season and are now in talks with Blackburn Rovers to reach an agreement on a compensation fee.
According to youth football expert ‘The Secret Scout’, Newcastle is the ‘likely destination’ for the teenager as the club looks to complete the deal in time for the start of pre-season in July.
Finneran has also been subject to interest from Germany after making his Blackburn senior debut in the FA Cup during the 2023-24 season. Back in January, the then 15-year-old was a late substitute in Blackburn’s 5-2 win over Cambridge United.
Due to his age, he was forced to wear a Blackburn shirt without the club’s vaping company sponsor Totally Wicked on the front.
Finneran has been capped at youth level for the Republic of Ireland and featured regularly for Blackburn’s Under-21s side last season. These latest talks come after Newcastle agreed a deal to sign Portsmouth midfielder CJ Afumuzor for the club’s academy. The 14-year-old was also subject to interest from Manchester United.
Newcastle have signed several promising youngsters in recent seasons with Alex Murphy, Cathal Heffernan, Trevan Sanusi, Leo Shahar, Travis Hernes and Alfie Harrison all joining the academy set-up. A pathway for young players progressing from the academy is also evident with 18-year-old midfielder Lewis Miley playing 26 times for Newcastle’s first-team last season.
Academy players Murphy, Joe White, Ben Parkinson, Amadou Diallo and Michael Ndiweni also featured for the first team during the 2023-24 campaign though the latter two have since been released.
