Premier League official document confirms Newcastle United’s ninth summer signing
Newcastle United signed the midfielder before sending him straight back out on loan.
Newcastle United have completed the signing of 18-year-old midfielder Ousmane Diabate from Turkish side Genclerbirligi SK, a Premier League document has confirmed.
Genclerbirligi manager Metin Diyadin claimed last month that Diabate had signed for the Magpies and returned to the club on a season-long loan. According to reports in Turkey, United have paid around £2.9million to sign the highly-rated youngster.
Diyadin (via Ajansspor) said: “I came here during the mid-season last year [season]. He was playing in the youth team. We brought him into the team, and because he came from Africa, there was a contract process there. We couldn’t develop him during that process.
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“After me, Coach Volkan came. If I’m not mistaken, he played in a cup match against Galatasaray and 1-2 matches in the league. His potential is very high. We completed his sale to Newcastle United. He is currently playing for us on loan.
“He is a very mature player for his age. His game vision and technical ability are also good. I think he will reach different levels as he plays more. I’m really curious how our teams didn’t see this in a situation like this. We transferred him to England.”
Premier League official document confirms Newcastle United signing
While Newcastle are yet to officially confirm his arrival, the Premier League has after releasing the squad lists of all 20 clubs on their official website on Thursday afternoon.
Diabate is listed among the under-21s players, which also includes new signings Aladji Bamba, Sean Steur, Matias Fernandez-Pardo, Ewen Jaouen and Bazoumana Toure. This is because any contracted player born on or after January, 1 2005 are not required to be named in the Premier League squad, however Lukas Hornicek, Amar Dedic and Nico Gonzalez are as they are all aged 24.
Newcastle are able name 25 players in their Premier League squad but have several vacant places with the exits of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier, Emil Krafth, John Ruddy, Alex Murphy, Aaron Ramsdale and Nick Woltemade, and the addition of five players 21 or under leaving Matthias Jaissle with a squad of just 19 out of a possible 25.