Newcastle United’s complete overhaul could now see them raid Chelsea for youth coaches Neil Bath and Jim Fraser in an ambitious double swoop.
That’s according to The Sun, who claim that Newcastle are ramping up their efforts for a complete restructure.
Dan Ashworth is heading in from Brighton as director of football, but more moves will be on the cards for the Magpies.
It’s stated that Newcastle want Bath and Fraser to come on board to revamp their youth system moving forward.
Newcastle haven’t had a great success rate in terms of bringing through young prospects and are hoping Bath and Fraser will lead the revival.
Bath is Chelsea’s head of youth development and has been credited with bringing through a whole host of players.
Reece James, Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi spring to mind, as do Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham, who now feature in Italy.
Chelsea’s youth success is believed to be a result of Bath’s excellence, whilst Fraser serves as Bath’s assistant and Chelsea’s head of youth recruitment.
Newcastle’s attempt is ambitious to say the least, but may be because of the current sanctions imposed on Roman Abramovich.
Chelsea are unable to agree new contracts with staff so Bath and Fraser could be tempted away if Newcastle throw big money at them.
There may even be a link between Ashworth and Bath – and that’s England boss Gareth Southgate.
Ashworth worked with Southgate in the England setup, and Southgate publicly praised the ‘brilliant’ work Bath was doing in the Chelsea youth setup.
It’s clear that people inside The FA rate Bath highly and that may have contributed to Newcastle and Ashworth’s interest.
A deal still seems somewhat unlikely given their key roles at Chelsea, but Newcastle will be hoping to pull off a huge coup by adding Bath and Fraser.
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