Newcastle Set to Bring in Young Defender

According to The Daily Mail, Newcastle are set to pip both Manchester United and Arsenal to the signing of  Swiss 16-year-old Kevin Mbabu.

News came out of the club last season that Mike Ashley would be investing £15m into the acquisition of talented youngsters from around Europe. And it looks as though Kevin Mbabu could be one of the first youngsters to join the youth set-up.

The Servette youngster has spent time on trial in recent months at both Arsenal and Manchester United. But it looks as though Newcastle could now be bringing in the lad this month for an estimated fee of £1m.

Mbabu is a highly rated defensive midfielder, who is equally at home at centre back or right back.

The amount we’re paying for the lad is surprising, given that Ashley has shown himself to be rather stingy in the past. In the Summer, he was unwilling to pay an extra £1m to bring in Debuchy, and yet it appears as though he’s quite happy to bring in an unproven talent. 

Another point is that some fans will be disappointed that we’re focusing merely on youngsters. Our current situation requires the acquisition of experienced players. At just 16 years of age, Mbabu certainly won’t be touching the first-team for a while. 

However, there’s no harm in long-term building and I’m sure that Graham Carr’s team of scouts would have done sufficient background research before recommending this player to the higher management.

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