Ross Wilson makes fresh Newcastle United move as club look to sign the next African superstar
Newcastle United are looking to expand their global scouting network further.
Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson is looking to strengthen the club’s global scouting network with the appointment of an African scout analyst.
The new role will entail identifying and scouting prospective players across multiple levels of African football, primarily through video analysis.
The job description states the successful candidate will ‘proactively identify players who could meet Newcastle United’s recruitment strategy, playing philosophy and squad requirements'.
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Last December, Wilson expanded Newcastle’s scouting network in South America with the appointment of Thomas Federspiel as the club’s new global talent scout in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador. Shortly after, the club identified and signed 16-year-old winger Martinez from Independiente del Valle of Ecuador. Martinez will officially join Newcastle once he turns 18 next year.
The club also advertised for an Argentina and Uruguay scout to help identify more future stars for the club.
NUFC looking to unearth the next African star
Newcastle have had plenty of success signing African players over the years, though they have not signed a player directly from an African club. Shola Ameobi (Nigeria), Cheick Tiote (Ivory Coast), Papiss Cisse (Senegal), Demba Ba (Senegal), Obafemi Martins (Nigeria), Mohamed Diame (Senegal), Habib Beye (Senegal), Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo), Christian Atsu (Ghana) and Lomana LuaLua (DR Congo) are just some well-known former Newcastle players who also represented African countries on the international stage.
African players currently on the books at Newcastle at first-team level are Yoane Wissa (DR Congo) and Bazoumana Toure (Ivory Coast). Afner Cá (Guinea-Bissau) and Ousmane Diabaté (Guinea) are youngsters also contracted to the club.
Now it is up to Wilson and his scouting team to try and unearth the next big African star for Newcastle.