Danish outfit Odense BK are playing down reports suggesting that the ‘extraordinary’ Yankuba Minteh is close to joining Premier League giants Newcastle United during the summer transfer window.
A left-footed right winger who loves to cut inside from the flank; there is a reason why Yankuba Minteh was nicknamed ‘Messi’ in his younger days back home in Gambia. The OB starlet even wears the number 30 shirt in homage to the Argentine’s formative years at Barcelona.
And after scoring four goals and setting up six more in 17 Danish Superligaen games this term – the 18-year-old emerging as something of a talismanic figure in a struggling side – Minteh is making no secret of his desire to embark upon a new challenge.
“I am ready to take the next step. It will only be good for me,” Minteh tells ViaPlay.
“Of course, I want to go to Newcastle United. It’s a big club in the Premier League and they’re doing something good. They are fighting for a place in the Champions League.”
Yankuba ‘Messi’ Minteh dreams of Newcastle United move
Sport Fyn reported a few months ago that Newcastle were ‘very close’ to making the twinkle-toed teenager their first signing of the summer.
But, according to OB director Bjorn Wesstrom, a move to St James’ Park is nowhere near as advanced as some would have you believe at this stage.
“We have received two bids. We got them in December. But just because it’s on Twitter or that journalists write about it, it doesn’t mean that it’s concrete. I relate to what is concrete,” Wesstrom tells Once Odense Always Odense on TV2.
“The process of evaluating the offers that have come for Yankuba Minteh has also been quite short. The process is that you get an offer, look at the figures and realise that it is nowhere near what we want.”
Like fellow Gambian Adama Bojang – reportedly on the radar of Tottenham Hotspur and Napoli – speculation over Minteh’s future is likely to continue over the coming months. It remains to be seen how much Odense want. But a club of Newcastle’s vast means are unlikely to be put off by the size of his price-tag.
“(Minteh’s development) is 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.”
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