Newcastle United agree first signing of 2025 after winger seen in Adidas home shirt - second transfer lined-up

Republic of Ireland youth international Kyle Fitzgerald is set to join the club from Galway United once he turns 18 on January 28. Fitzgerald will sign a professional contract with Newcastle and join up with Diarmuid O'Carroll’s Under-21s squad.

The young winger has progressed through Galway’s academy before making his senior first-team debut in June 2024. He also featured in an FAI Cup second-round win against Longford Town the following month.

Fitzgerald has also already donned the iconic black and white stripes having spent part of the summer on trial at Newcastle. The 17-year-old featured for Newcastle Under-21s in a 1-1 friendly draw at South Shields in August.

Newcastle’s only January signing last year was Alfie Harrison from Manchester City and the club’s first arrival of 2025 is now set to be another youth player in Fitzgerald. The Magpies have scouted Ireland and Irish players in an attempt to bolster the academy in recent seasons.

The additions of Alex Murphy, Cathal Heffernan, Reece Byrne and Rory Finneran all arrived at Newcastle with a pathway to potential first-team action. Murphy has already made his competitive debut for the club.

With a strong academy and graduating players so important for clubs when it comes to managing Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules, Newcastle will continue to invest in its youth system. The club are currently in the process of appointing a regional youth scout for the Midlands as part of sporting director Paul Mitchell’s ‘wide-reaching net’ when it comes to player recruitment.

Newcastle have already agreed a deal to sign Georgian forward Vakhtang Salia from Dinamo Tbilisi when he turns 18 in August. The low-risk, potentially high-reward nature of youth signings is an important part of Newcastle’s transfer strategy.

"Scouting and recruiting emerging talent is an essential part of building a sustainable future, particularly within the current PSR framework, so the market is fiercely competitive,” Mitchell explained.

"We continue to scout extensively, both domestically and overseas, with a view to securing players who can come through our talent pathway and, ideally, become part of the first team in future.”

One of Newcastle’s biggest transfer sale success stories in recent seasons involves a player who never actually played for the club. Yankuba Minteh was signed from Odense for around £6million before being loaned out to Feyenoord for the season and sold to Brighton & Hove Albion the following summer for £33million, seeing Newcastle make a significant profit.

Although Newcastle were effectively forced to sell Minteh to comply with PSR - the winger gave the club a way to comply without weakening the squad.