The former Sunderland player aiming to impress Eddie Howe at Newcastle United after ‘taste’ of senior football

Back in May, Turner-Cooke was ‘close’ to being involved during Newcastle United’s Premier League match at Manchester City with head coach Howe revealing he had been impressed by the youngster in training:

“He’s trained very well with us. He’s been with us for probably a couple of weeks for training and done very well.”

A new season brings fresh hope that some of Elliot Dickman’s most talented youngsters can follow Elliot Anderson’s lead and make the step-up to first-team matters.

Turner-Cooke was one of the group selected to join the senior side during their pre-season training camps in Austria and Portugal and the teenager is hoping to add to his experiences of first-team football and continue to impress Howe when given the chance:

"Yeah they are exciting times, I am taking each experience as it comes really.” Turner-Cooke said.

"Thankfully I got to go to Austria and Portugal and they were two great experiences. As a young player that is all you want really.

"Hopefully I will just keep trying to impress the manager when I go up and train with them and just look to keep doing what I am doing."

"Eddie Howe is a great manager and when I am with them learning loads from him and the players. That's what I want to keep up. I am just trying to impress them."

"I just keep doing what I am doing, playing Under-21s and if I get the chance with the first-team I will just keep on doing what I am doing again.”

Turner-Cooke joined Newcastle in an ‘explosive’ move from Sunderland in January 2021.

After his dad, John Cooke, was let go by the Black Cats in summer 2020, Turner-Cooke posted a strongly-worded tweet, that has since been deleted, about Sunderland’s treatment of his father.

Turner-Cooke tweeted: “35 years at the club and no acknowledgement even though he was made redundant 2 months ago. COWARDS. No class, no loyalty, no respect. Hang your heads in shame Sunderland AFC. You know who you are.”

Sunderland investigated him over the tweet, but decided to take no action before the midfielder made the switch across the Wear-Tyne divide early last year.

Turner-Cooke played 90 minutes as Newcastle United Under-21’s started their Papa John’s Trophy campaign with a goalless draw away at Doncaster Rovers.

Although the Magpies would go on to lose in a penalty shootout, it was a solid performance against one of League Two’s most in-form sides, one that Turner-Cooke believes he and his team mates can learn a lot from:

“They’re very streetwise players like this. They have been around and a lot of them have played a lot of games in the football league so we have to just take little things off them {as an experience].

“There’s lots of different things [to take] from this experience.”

Newcastle currently sit in third-place in their Papa John’s Trophy group and face trips to Barnsley and Lincoln City in their next two group-stage games.