Premier League high-flyers Newcastle United are ‘very close’ to completing their first summer signing with Yankuba Minteh reportedly on his way to St James’ Park from Danish outfit Odense BK.
Only a couple of months ago, Newcastle snapped up one of the most exciting young wingers around in the shape of Australia starlet Garang Kuol.
Minteh may not have any international caps under his belt, or indeed a dazzling pre-season performance against Barcelona. But, like Kuol, Minteh is a stylish, silky wide player making quite the impression after exploding onto the senior stage.
Minteh, at 18 years of age, has five goal contributions in just nine league games this season; two goals and three assists.
He is quick, left-footed and supremely confident with the ball at his feet. An old-school dribbler, Minteh – along with the Tottenham Hotspur-linked Adama Bojang – is considered the rising star of Gambian football.
Newcastle United could sign Gambian wonderkid Yankuba Minteh
According to Danish publication Sport Fyn, Minteh should become Newcastle’s first signing of the summer. So long as the Magpies can overcome post-Brexit work permit rules. An agreement is reportedly ‘very close’.
And even if Minteh does not qualify for a work permit initially, Newcastle could farm him out on loan to clubs in Portugal or Belgium, for example. Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian owners are in talks to buy KV Oostende, per The Athletic.
“It’s fantastic,” Tonny Hermansen, the head of Odense’s academy, tells Tipsbladet. “That’s the crazy thing about football. We’re talking about an 18-year-old who comes up and becomes a crowd favourite.
“He has some extraordinary qualities such as his speed. He catches the eye because something happens when he has the ball. At the same time, he has got something defensive in his game without taking the offensiveness away from him.
“Therefore, he is a player with huge potential.”
Hermansen reveals that the teenager was once labelled ‘Messi’ in his younger days.
“The way he glides past the opposition,” adds Bakary Bojang; an advisor and agent who comes from the same village as Minteh. “Just special.”
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