‘Excited’ - fourth unannounced Newcastle United transfer ‘confirmed’ with St James’ Park photo
Another academy signing for Newcastle United has been announced via social media.
Sammy Pinnington has joined Newcastle United’s academy after leaving Luton town. The 14-year-old will be involved with The Young Magpies’ Under-15s and Under-16s squads for the 2023-24 season.
The teenager confirmed the move on social media with a photo of him in the St James’ Park tunnel holding up a Newcastle shirt with ‘Pinnington 7’ on the back.
It was accompanied by the caption: “Thank you God for this new challenge. Really happy to have signed with Newcastle United and start this new project.“Thank you to all at Luton Town for 7 great years and helping me develop as a player. Very excited to get started and begin this new chapter in my life.”
Academy signings below Under-18 and Under-21 level rarely get officially announced by Newcastle. And Pinnington is one of four new additions to the Under-16s squad to be revealed so far this summer.
Winger Michael Mills joined Port Vale after a reported six-figure fee was agreed between the two clubs. Sam Alabi and Kacey Wooster have also joined from National League clubs Oldham Athletic and Southend United respectively.
After seven years with the Hatters, the 14-year-old talent has become the FOURTH new recruit to join our U16 ranks ahead of the 2023/24 season, joining Sam Alabi (Oldham), Kacey Wooster (Southend) and Michael Mills (Port Vale) on Tyneside.
Several more additions are expected at Newcastle’s academy this summer with young Irish duo Cathan Heffernan and Kevin Zefi set to join from AC Milan and Inter Milan respectively. Wolverhampton Wanderers right-back Leo Shahar is also likely to join The Young Magpies while the club also look at 16-year-old Birmingham City winger Trevan Sanusi and 15-year-old West Ham United midfielder Divine Mukasa.
Since Dan Ashworth’s appointment as sporting director at Newcastle last summer, the club has made a significant investment into the academy infrastructure.
Newcastle have made several appointments behind the scenes at the academy with new scouting, coaching and analyst positions filled. The club has also entered into a ‘strategic relationship’ with Northern Ireland league champions Larne with the potential for young players to move between clubs in either direction to aid their development.