Newcastle United are believed to have sent scouts to watch a Champions League wonderkid in action in midweek, according to a fresh transfer claim.
Mitchell’s transfer plans at Newcastle
The Magpies will need to sign established players in the coming transfer windows, in order to provide Eddie Howe with the additional quality needed in his squad, but planning for the long-term picture is also of the utmost importance. Paul Mitchell replaced Dan Ashworth as Newcastle’s new sporting director in the summer, arriving from Monaco, and it looks as though the Englishman is ready to ensure that some of the best emerging talent around makes it way to St James’ Park.
A new report has stated that Mitchell wants scouts to head to Germany and France and make the Magpies the “best in class” when it comes to developing a huge pool of young talent. The hope is that not only will this ensure Howe has an array of prospects coming through the pipeline, but also gurantee the club can avoid any further PSR threat by selling off youngsters, pointing to Liverpool’s £50m+ profit this summer from Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg as an example.
Not only that, but Newcastle’s new transfer guru also wants to hire a full-time psychologist who can work with young players and the loans team to keep things ticking along. It is an intriguing approach that could prove to be very shrewd in the long term, and the Magpies have now been linked with a gifted ace with a big future ahead of him.
Newcastle sent scouts to watch wonderkid
According to Caught Offside, Newcastle are eyeing a move for Red Star Belgrade attacking midfielder Andrija Maksimovic, even sending scouts to watch him in Champions League action in midweek.
They are far from alone in showing an interest in the 17-year-old, however, with Manchester City, Brighton and Chelsea mentioned as fellow Premier League suitors, while in terms of foreign clubs, Juventus, Napoli, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, and Borussia Dortmund are all mentioned as being in the mix.
It is understandable why Maksimovic won’t be a name known by the majority of Newcastle supporters, but there is a reason why so many huge clubs are keen on snapping him up from Red Star. At just 17, he has already made 29 appearances for loan side Graficar, scoring nine goals in that time and also chipping in with three assists. At international level, he has capped a combined 18 times across four different age groups for Serbia, finding the net five times in the process.
Maksimovic played 70 minutes for Red Star away to Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday night, and while his side may have been on the receiving end of a 4-0 defeat, he still caught the eye, completing 93.9% of his passes at San Siro. He even had four shots, showing that he posed an attacking threat, despite the visitors being dominated.
Unearthing hidden gems should always be considered important at Newcastle, ensuring that Howe’s squad doesn’t age together and there is always a fresh face coming through, and Maksimovic could be ideal in that respect.
