South Shields manager wants Newcastle United reunion as forward awaits future decision

South Shields manager Elliott Dickman has admitted he would love an opportunity to sign Newcastle United youngster Dylan Stephenson on a permanent deal.

The 21-year-old forward was reunited with his former Magpies academy coach in the final days of the January transfer window when he joined the National League North club on loan for the remainder of the season.  After grabbing his first goals for the Mariners with a brace in a 5-0 hammering of Gloucester City, Stephenson ended the campaign with eight goals and one assist in 18 appearances as Dickman’s side narrowly missed out on a play-off place in non-league’s second tier.

Stephenson returned to Newcastle’s Under-21s side on Friday when he scored their first goal in a 2-1 win at Stoke City and could make another appearance when Ben Dawson’s men host Aston Villa at St James Park on Monday night.  However, it seems increasingly unlikely Stephenson will extend his time with his boyhood club as his current contract comes to an end in June and there are no plans for talks over a new deal.

Just as there was prior to his loan switch to South Shields in January, there is significant interest from several clubs across League Two, the National League and in Scotland over a possible permanent move for the forward - but Mariners manager Dickman has stressed he is keen to win the race and make Stephenson part of his squad for his first season in permanent charge at the 1st Cloud Arena.

He told The Gazette: “Dylan has been fantastic for us.  He’s scored goals, he’s contributed with goals, and it’s never easy coming out of the environment he’s in to go out on loan.  I think Dylan will be the first to admit he’s had other opportunities where it probably didn’t work out too well for him and it’s testament to him and the group that he’s slotted into our environment really smoothly.

“He made an impact and he’s got talent.  He’s still a Newcastle United player and until it’s official that he’s not, then I guess we can’t really say too much more.  As far as we are concerned, we would love him to be here if it doesn’t work out for him at Newcastle.  He would certainly be somebody we would be having conversations with and hopefully we could get a deal done where he does come and join us.  If it doesn’t, we wish him well, but we would love him to be in and around what we are trying to achieve next year.”

There have already been a number of departures from South Shields after CJ Clarke, Michael Woods and Aaron Martin all confirmed they were leaving the club.