BREAKING NEWS: Newcastle United are closing in on another signing this summer, following a youth recruitment campaign in recent months.
Newcastle United’s summer of senior recruitment may be coming to an end but the Magpies continue to strengthen the club’s academy and youth departments with shrewd moves for Europe’s brightest talent.
Chelsea’s Lewis Hall, 18, will become Newcastle’s fourth, and potentially final, first-team signing despite his inexperience, but another youngster is on the way in the form of Inter Milan’s Kevin Zefi. The attacker, also 18, is poised to swap the youth ranks at the San Siro for a switch to St James’ Park before the end of the month.
Zefi’s arrival will follow the capture of fellow Irishman Cathal Heffernan, 18, who put pen to paper on a Newcastle deal last week after leaving AC Milan. Both youngsters are seen as two of Ireland’s best up and coming prospects in the years to come.
Zefi, who has excelled in the Serie A youth system over the last two years, will be reunited with Ireland under-19 teammates Alex Murphy and Reece Byrne upon arrival on Tyneside. Zefi has represented Ireland at under-15s and under-17s after snubbing the chance to represent Albania despite being eligible through his parents.
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Zefi has been advised by former Newcastle United and Republic of Ireland star Stephen Carr in recent months. The ex-defender has played a big role in the youngster’s career to date as he keeps a watchful eye over the best young talent from his native country.
“Having a player at Inter and AC Milan can only be good for Irish football,” said Carr when talking about Zefi and Heffernan. “Kevin has opened a door that was always closed.
“Italians are now asking, have we been a bit blind to this, to Irish talent? You’ll never have as many Irish players in Italy as we’ve had in England over the years, it will be a small group, but there will be more to come.”
Zefi has over 50 appearances to his name at youth level and notched 16 goals in 13 appearances for Inter in Italy’s U18 B league. His talent is clear and has been since he swapped Ireland for Italy a few years ago.
“Kevin is that type of player that catches the eye easily – he backs himself 100% in possession of the ball. He has lovely balance and uses his body very well to protect the ball,” Shamrock Rovers’ head of the academy Shane Robinson admitted.
“He has worked very hard on his overall game over the last number of years and deserves credit for that, he has gone up through the levels impressively from U15 to U19 with First Division appearances last season also. We will watch on with pride as his career continues to progress.”
Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth has played a key role in securing young, exciting talent since arriving at the club last year. The north east outfit have also signed the likes of Garang Kuol, Yankuba Minteh, Jude Smith, Amadou Diallo, Alex Murphy and others in the hope of improving the standard of the club’s youth sides.
