Newcastle United board's under radar investment unlocks PSR game-changer as 15-year-old 'wows'

Callum Wilson's injury is a timely reminder of what Newcastle United need for the here and now: further reinforcements at first-team level. However, there has been an investment from the board that has gone a little under the radar, which could bear fruit in the coming years.

Thanks to renewed backing, Newcastle's academy can run a full-time training model. Why does that matter? Well, rather than being restricted to a catchment area, Newcastle are able to recruit players nationally at under-15 level and under-16 level (provided they are placed in full-time education).

Michael Mills is one such beneficiary after arriving from Port Vale last year. Mills is only 15, but the striker has stepped up to the under-18s in recent weeks and caught the eye in the 2-1 FA Youth Cup win against Brighton on Monday night - even before his goal at Whitley Park.

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There was a tantalising glimpse of what was to come when Joe Brayson sent Mills running down the left channel in the first half. The rapid striker raced past Matthew Hayden before chopping back inside and stinging goalkeeper Alfie Mansell's gloves.

Newcastle United Women defender Charlotte Potts, on co-commentary, was blown away. "The pace on that boy," she boomed. "Wow. That's when I would be fearful as a defender when there's that sort of pace."

Mills raced clear once again just a few minutes later when Newcastle broke quickly from Brighton's free-kick and Sean Neave sent the striker on a footrace with Shane Nti. Mills was so quick that Nti desperately threw an arm out to pull the England under-16 international back, but he could not catch him and the striker finished superbly from the edge of the area.

It is still very early days for Mills and his team-mates, but something is stirring at academy level and signings such as Leo Shahar, Rory Finneran and Trevan Sanusi have slotted in alongside promising local talents like Aidan Harris, Anthony Munda and Sean Neave.

There is a reason why Newcastle have pumped resources into this area of the club. After all, the search for homegrown talent has never been more intense post-Brexit and the days of clubs being able to sign overseas prospects like Cesc Fabregas, Paul Pogba, Tim Krul or Nathan Ake between the ages of 16 and 17 are a thing of the past.

Newcastle had a considerable gap to bridge post-takeover, given the head start their rivals enjoyed, but the club have beefed up their youth recruitment department considerably to 'identify high talent and high potential players' across the UK and Ireland. Sporting director Paul Mitchell has spoken about supporting academy director Steve Harper in 'growing our next wave of talent to affect the first team' and 'growing and developing players to enhance our revenue streams', and the foundations have been put in place to do just that.

As well as having a strong presence locally, Newcastle have recruited regional scouts in Scotland, Yorkshire, the North West, the Midlands, London, the South West and South East. The Magpies even have a London grassroots and UK non-league talent spotter.

New recruits now walk into an academy stacked with support staff and progressive coaches - Jack Brazil, the under-16s lead, joined from PSV last summer while under-21s boss Diarmuid O'Carroll, another recent arrival, is a senior coach for Northern Ireland - and Newcastle can dangle the carrot of a genuine pathway when going up against other sides for in-demand youngsters. Newcastle can point to Sean Longstaff making close to 200 appearances for the first team. The Magpies are able to reference how Lewis Miley became the youngest player in Champions League history to set up a goal for an English club. The black-and-whites can highlight how Elliot Anderson had the platform to become a Premier League regular before his PSR-enforced move to Nottingham Forest.

Even those youngsters who have moved on felt like they at least had a chance to impress. Michael Ndiweni, who came on against Chelsea last season, revealed to ChronicleLive there was 'no talk' of being able to train with the first team in a previous era, but the striker quickly noticed how 'the gap was smaller' following Eddie Howe's appointment. Joe Oliver, similarly, who was on the club's books from the age of 11, recalled a shift in how youngsters got to spend the whole day at the first-team building, rather than just turning up for the start of training, which enabled academy hopefuls to 'get to know the players and staff, and create bonds with people'.

There is work to do, of course. Liverpool have smartly recruited readymade players over the years, but Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Caoimhin Kelleher and even Conor Bradley have all played their part in the league leaders' superb start to the season after coming through the system while defender Jarell Quansah is also highly-regarded by the club. These are individuals who have saved Liverpool millions and it is certainly not lost on Howe that Newcastle could be 'way ahead of the game' in a PSR world if the Magpies produce their own talent.

"It's something we really want to do," the Newcastle boss added. "Not in isolated cases but with frequency if we can. I'd say we are probably in a better position now than we have been through the investment in the academy and through the work done by Steve Harper and his coaching team, which has been really good.

"I’ve been really pleased with what I’m seeing with the academy and everything they are putting in place and the work being done there. I’m very confident there will be players coming through. There are players coming through now, but there will be more in the future.

"Certainly there has been some eye-catching recruitment in the younger age groups as well so there is a lot of work going on. These things do take time, but I do think there are players coming who can make a difference."