Newcastle United summer signing confirms season ending injury after surgery

The 17-year-old joined Newcastle from Scottish side Kilmarnock last summer and quickly established himself within the club's academy. The centre-back captained Scotland at the Under-17 European Championships last summer and started the 2022-23 season with Newcastle's Under-18s squad.

But in only his fourth against local rivals Sunderland, the teenager was hit by a major injury blow that would ultimately keep him out for the remainder of the season. McArthur played on through his injury against Sunderland before being diagnosed with a lateral meniscus issue that ultimately required surgery on his knee.

"I knew something was up straight away but continued to play because I thought I'd jarred it or something," McArthur recalled.

"When I finished the game, I had it checked out and it turned out that it was my meniscus. I didn't know how long I was going to be ruled out for as I'd never had that kind of injury before.

"I had the surgery and then, straight away, I was in the gym and I started to develop different aspects of my game. At first, it was tough because there are a lot of up and downs. It's never a straight road but I've been able to develop physically and also mentally.

"Even when I'm off the pitch, I'm working on keeping my mind ticking over too, watching first-team games and the Newcastle defenders in particular, seeing what traits I could put into my own game to become even better."

Despite a frustrating season out with injury, McArthur is still focusing on the positives.

"Even though I've been injured for the majority of the season, I've really enjoyed my first season at Newcastle," he told the official matchday programme. "When I first joined, I got some games for the Under-18s and thought I was doing well up until that.

"Despite taking a turn for the worse with an injury, I've still never taken a day for granted and have been working to get back as quickly as possible. For me, the most important thing when I've been out is that it has given me the opportunity to develop physically.

"Hopefully, when I come back, I can push for the Under-21s and then the first-team as I think I'm physically ready to go and deal with the players that I'll be coming up against."

Now McArthur is back on the grass and hoping to be back involved for pre-season as he makes the step up to Newcastle's Under-21s set-up.