‘Proud’ - Newcastle United signing reacts after completing under the radar deadline day move

The 17-year-old midfielder joined Newcastle last week and quickly joined up with the club’s Under-21s side. Hernes made his debut in the Papa John’s Trophy on Tuesday night as he came off the bench for The Young Magpies in their 1-0 defeat at Wrexham.

Following his first week at the club, Hernes took to Instagram to post: “Proud to announce the start of a new chapter @nufc - Thanks to all the staff and players @shrewsburytown. God is great.”

Hernes featured for Shrewsbury’s first-team three times in the opening month of the 2023-24 campaign before making the switch to Newcastle, starting against Leeds United in the Carabao Cup.

The teenager was born in Norway and has represented his country twice at Under-17s level and signed his first professional contract at Shrewsbury over the summer.

Newcastle have also recently completed the signings of England Under-16s duo Leo Shahar and Trevan Sanusi from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City respectively. Given both players are 16-years-old and ineligible to be offered a professional contract, neither deal is likely to be officially announced by the club.

Sanusi and Shahar have both been pictured with Newcastle shirts at St James’ Park over the past week after agreeing to join the club.

Newcastle’s academy has seen plenty of investment and recruitment since Dan Ashworth’s as sporting director last June. Over the summer, The Magpies brought in a number of new signings to the club’s youth sides with Cathal Heffernan from AC Milan and Hernes from Shrewsbury the only two to be offered professional contracts.