Newcastle United youngster ruled out for two months with ankle injury - fears season could be over

As revealed by The Shields Gazette, Sanusi picked up an injury back in January shortly after his competitive Newcastle debut in the 3-1 FA Cup third-round win against Bromley at St James’ Park. The 17-year-old then started a 4-0 FA Youth Cup defeat against Aston Villa Under-18s shortly afterwards but has not been seen in action since.

Although his initial injury was understood to be a minor problem, the young winger now looks set for over three months on the sidelines in total. An ankle injury is set to rule Sanusi out until the back end of the season.

Confirming his injury on Instagram last week, Sanusi wrote: “Unfortunate to be out for another eight weeks after being out for five”.

There is a chance the young winger’s campaign could already be over given Newcastle Under-21s final Premier League 2 match is away at Manchester City on April 11. Sanusi will be hoping The Young Magpies qualify for the Premier League 2 Elimination Play-Offs in order to have a chance of featuring again for them this season.

Newcastle Under-18s campaign runs until May 3, when they face their Manchester City counterparts at home. There is also a chance Sanusi could receive another first-team call-up at the back end of the season once he returns to fitness.

The winger has trained with Newcastle’s first team on occasion this season and regularly featured in Eddie Howe’s side in pre-season last summer.

Trevan Sanusi earns praise from Eddie Howe

Sanusi has been on the the key academy players on Howe’s radar this season after signing his first professional contract at Newcastle last year. The winger travelled with the first-team squad to Japan in pre-season and also featured in the Sela Cup matches against Girona and Stade Brest at St James’ Park.

Five months later, he made his competitive senior debut off the bench at St James’ Park in the FA Cup.

Following the Bromley match, Howe said: “Tre hasn’t been consistently training with us, He’s been mainly with the [Under-21s] but I’ve been watching those games and getting regular feedback there.

“I think he had a good pre-season, went back [to the academy] and has come strong again in recent weeks. Today will be a big moment for him. I’d love to see him get more opportunities but that will have to depend on how others are playing.

“He’s got standout qualities. He’s confident, you saw that today when he came on. He will always front people up one vs one and try to beat them. Of course, he needs to add that physicality that he’ll need to survive. People will target him.

“He has a nice way of riding tackles and really good balance. Like most young players, there’s stuff to improve. His end product needs to get better. We will continue to work with him on that.”

To make things more frustrating for Sanusi, Newcastle have sold Miguel Almiron, lost Harvey Barnes to injury and now Anthony Gordon to suspension in his absence. Had he been available, Sanusi may well have received another first team squad call-up.

Barnes has since returned to fitness and will be looking to fill the starting spot on the left wing in Gordon’s absence.

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