Exclusive:Newcastle United plot multi-club recruitment project after 2027 deal agreed & Amanda Staveley claim
Newcastle United remain committed to establishing a multi-club setup at St James’ Park.
Establishing a multi-club model remains central to Newcastle United's recruitment plans.
And movement on the future of that project is understood to be edging closer.
The Shields Gazette understands, from speaking to those with a knowledge of plans, the Magpies remain committed to their aim of delivering a multi-club or feeder club setup to enhance their youth recruitment drive. The club is said to be open to ‘opportunities’ that present themselves on the continent.
Youth recruitment drive
Club scouts have been tasked with finding not only the best players aged 15-17 in the United Kingdom, but also worldwide. With that approach, comes obvious challenges, including restrictive rules on signing players under the age of 18 from abroad.
So, in order to implement their new aggressive recruitment strategy in this department, a club to house new signings, unable to jump straight into the NUFC academy, is seen as essential.
This is an approach used successfully by other Premier League clubs, most notably, and controversially, by Chelsea, or BlueCo, who use Ligue 1 outfit Strasbourg as a stepping stone for talent picked up from other countries.
Manchester City, through the City Football Group, and Manchester United, INEOS, are operate a multi-club model.
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Push for signings from South America
One of the key areas the Magpies are targeting is South America. There has been a push to establish the infrastructure in that continent to unearth future gems. The recent signing of highly-rated 16-year-old Ecuadorian winger Johan Martínez from Independiente del Valle is an example of the type of the deal they’re looking to replicate. However, because of international transfer regulations, the player will only officially be allowed to move to the UK in the summer of 2027, when he turns 18.
Having a club to take him in Europe, would skirt around that regulation. And it’s understood clubs in Belgium and the lower tiers in France have recently been explored.
Amanda Staveley 'pipe dream' to become reality?
Former director Amanda Staveley was the last Magpies’ official to go on the record in relation to the multi-club idea at United.
Speaking at the Bloomberg Power Players' summit in 2024, Staveley said: "We very much are [looking at multi-club model]. Multi-club is part of football. It's a real benefit to be able to have players and train players that aren't part of your squad.
"The UEFA rules are changing so we have to see what emerges. The dynamics around whether we could have a club has changed dramatically over the last year.
"I'm still a very big fan of the multi-club model. A lot of other competitors and friends in the Premier League have multi-club relationships, but it has to be considered as a whole.
"We have looked at Belgium, we have looked at a lot of European markets. We have looked in Asia, Australia, Brazil - pretty much everywhere. We have look at every market to see and getting players through our academy system and through that multi-club model would be very helpful in terms of allowing us to buy and have players part of our journey earlier on."