Former Newcastle United prospect set for shock Portugal move - but door remains open for North East return

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A former Newcastle United midfielder is closing in on a move.

A former Newcastle United academy star’s career is set to take an unexpected turn with a move to the second tier of Portuguese football.

Just over ten months have passed since midfielder Lucas De Bolle was released by the Magpies after struggling to make the breakthrough into the senior set-up at St James Park. After appearing in a pre-season friendly against Spanish club Athletic Club de Bilbao during the summer of 2022, the youngster earned senior experience during a loan spell with Scottish Championship club Hamilton Academical and was an unused substitute for Newcastle in their Champions League group stage defeat at Borussia Dortmund in October 2023.

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Following his release from Newcastle last summer, De Bolle’s search for a new club came to an end when he joined National League North club South Shields and made a positive impact during what has been a relatively short spell at the 1st Cloud Arena. His time as a Mariner is now set to come to an end after manager Elliott Dickman revealed De Bolle had travelled to Portugal to tie up an agreement with a club playing in their second tier.

The former Newcastle United and Sunderland academy coach told The Gazette: “He is a really talented young man and I was surprised he was available and without a club since the summer so we tried to get him in then. We couldn’t get a deal sorted and I think he had ideas of going to a higher level, that’s fair enough, players have ambitions. We gave him an opportunity and he added some real quality to the group we had at the time. He’s going to be a real miss but we couldn’t stand in his way because we had an agreement we would support him if something like this happened. We wish him well, hopefully it works out for the lad but if it doesn’t, he might end up back at South Shields.”

Dickman, who first worked with De Bolle during his time within the Magpies’ academy set-up, believes the talented midfielder will be suited to his new environment and backed the twice-capped Scotland Under-21 international to rise to the challenges that lie in wait.

“He has always had that desire to play abroad and he’s also been told his style of play would suit that. He’s very elegant and the advice he has had from his inner circle was always to play abroad. They’ve been trying hard for that to happen and it’s a good league. Without giving too much away because I know he wants to keep it quiet until it’s announced but it’s a team that has been in their top division and they want to get back in their as quickly as possible so hopefully he can help them do that.”

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South Shields will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host National League North leaders Chester at the 1st Cloud Arena.

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