Newcastle United 'new signing' makes 'dream' admission after Eddie Howe transfer decision

Joe White became the fifth Newcastle United academy player to make his Premier League debut this season as he came off the bench against Bournemouth.

Newcastle were trailing 2-1 at St James' Park when White was introduced alongside veteran Matt Ritchie. Within moments of the pair coming on, Ritchie had drawn the home side level as they snatched a point in stoppage time.

White followed on from academy players Alex Murphy, Amadou Diallo, Ben Parkinson and Michael Ndiweni who have all made their competitive debuts for the club this season. The 21-year-old spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Crewe Alexandra in League Two before returning to Newcastle in January.

Following an assessment from Eddie Howe and his coaching staff in training, a decision was quickly made to keep White part of the first-team set-up heading into the second half of the season due to several injury issues in the squad.

Following his debut, White took to social media to post an image of him on the St James' Park pitch against Bournemouth along with the caption: "The dream."

Reflecting on White's return, Howe described the player as like a 'new signing' as he told The Gazette: "Just talking individually about Joe, he's come back from a loan spell and really matured.

"That loan spell did him the world of good, he's trained really well. I'm very, very pleased with him. He's been almost like a new signing for us and of course, by training well you earn my trust.

"I thought it was a good moment to put him on the pitch for his Premier League debut. I thought he did really well so I'm delighted with him."