Journalist Aaron Stokes has claimed that Newcastle United sporting director Dan Ashworth will be watching the World Cup scouting for potential talents to sign.
With the major international tournament now upon us, most Toon fans would have mainly been keeping an eye on English trio Kieran Tripper, Nick Pope and Callum Wilson.
All three have been called up to the Three Lions squad and only Pope failed to get any minutes as Gareth Southgate’s men picked up all three points in a win over Iran.
However, Ashworth and his team will also be carefully watching the games unfold, hoping to spot any gems that could be signed for Newcastle in the future.
Stokes made such a point while speaking on Everything is Black and White, saying (22:13): “They’ll be looking, you know, Ashworth’s team will be out there and trying to find the gem.
“I think there’s been a couple over the years that have come out of the left field, Newcastle have signed them. Like Daryl Janmaat and players that have just sort of come out of nowhere with a really, really good World Cup – and all of a sudden big Premier League teams want them.
“So I’ve got no doubt they’ll be keeping an eye on these games and hopefully a gem or two emerges that they can try and steal.”
Will NUFC end up buying one of the stars of the World Cup?
Yes
No
TIF thoughts on Newcastle and their targets…
One lesser-known talent that could be set to explode onto the international stage at the World Cup is Australian Garang Kuol. Big things are expected of the teenager in the future, though luckily for the Magpies they have already agreed on a deal to sign him from A-League outfit Central Coast Mariners in January.
That sort of transfer does show, however, that the English club are open to scouting the whole of the globe in an attempt to unearth some hidden gems, and so it’s no shock to hear Ashworth and co will be keeping a close eye on proceedings in Qatar.
Of course, due to the club’s wealth these days, they don’t even need to necessarily be that frugal with their ambitions. Indeed, they could just go out and spend large sums of money on one of the biggest emerging stars should they feel the need to. Money certainly wouldn’t be an issue in that circumstance.