'Absolute talent' can succeed as next move after Newcastle United departure is confirmed

Lucas De Bolle has been given a glowing assessment by South Shields manager Elliott Dickman after agreeing to join the National League North club following his departure from Newcastle United.

The talented midfielder is a product of the famous Wallsend Boys Club and has been part of the Magpies academy for the last nine years. After progressing through to Under-21 level, De Bolle earned his first senior experience with a loan spell at Scottish club Hamilton Academical during the 2022/23 season and was also an unused substitute in four of Newcastle’s Premier League fixtures during the same campaign. The youngster was also named as a substitute alongside the likes of Miguel Almiron, Lewis Miley and Anthony Gordon as Eddie Howe’s side were beaten at Borussia Dortmund in the group stage of last season’s Champions League.

However, the two-times capped Scotland Under-21 international was released by the Magpies earlier this summer after making his final appearances for his boyhood club when they faced Tottenham Hotspur and the A-League All Stars during an end of season trip to Australia just weeks earlier. De Bolle held talks with South Shields over a possible reunion with former Magpies academy coach Dickman during the close-season and also had interest from several other clubs. With some encouragement from United academy director Steve Harper, the talks were resurrected over the last fortnight and De Bolle agreed to join the Mariners last week before making his debut in Saturday’s impressive 3-0 win at Warrington Town.

Speaking after the win at Cantilever Park, South Shields manager Dickman described his latest addition as ‘a real thinker’ and believes De Bolle still has a hunger and appetite to improve as a player.

The Mariners boss told The Gazette: “He’s an absolute talent and he’s a player that has a really good football brain. He takes the ball well in difficult areas, he’s elegant in possession, he’s a real thinker and most of all, he wants to keep learning and keep developing his game in the way that he always has done throughout his young career. Lucas has a hunger and appetite to perform and improve, he has always done his talking with the ball and I am sure that won’t change.

“He’s had that disappointment after what has happened with Newcastle when it hasn’t quite worked out but I knew him from my time there so we had a conversation in the summer and just couldn’t get things done. Steve Harper has pushed Lucas towards us recently and dropped me a reminder about him, which as a club we obviously really appreciate. I am happy to help him out by bringing and he was more than happy to commit to us and we can already so we will benefit from that. I think this is an agreement that works for both of us because we can give him a platform to perform and we have added another talented player to our squad.”

De Bolle could make his home debut for the Mariners when they host National League North rivals King’s Lynn Town on Saturday afternoon.