Newcastle closing in on another transfer on top of Lewis Hall move as recruitment drive continues
Newcastle United’s summer of senior recruitment may be coming to an end but the Magpies continue to strengthen the club’s academy and youth departments with shrewd moves for Europe’s brightest talent.
Chelsea’s Lewis Hall, 18, will become Newcastle’s fourth, and potentially final, first-team signing despite his inexperience, but another youngster is on the way in the form of Inter Milan’s Kevin Zefi. The attacker, also 18, is poised to swap the youth ranks at the San Siro for a switch to St James’ Park before the end of the month.
Zefi’s arrival will follow the capture of fellow Irishman Cathal Heffernan, 18, who put pen to paper on a Newcastle deal last week after leaving AC Milan. Both youngsters are seen as two of Ireland’s best up and coming prospects in the years to come.
Adidas did not give up hope of nine-figure Newcastle reunion even after lost kits never seen
They were kits that never saw the light of day. A set of designs that were going to take Newcastle United’s partnership with Adidas in a ‘different direction’ – only for the Magpies to switch to Puma in 2010.
However, senior figures at Adidas, many of whom were working at the sportswear giant at the time, never ruled out a reunion, particularly after the takeover. In fact, it was only seven months into the new era that Inigo Turner, Adidas’ design director, told ChronicleLive: “It was a bit of a shame because I felt we were developing nicely with Newcastle and, then, unfortunately, it wasn’t continued, but who knows what happens in the future?”
Who knows, indeed. The secret is already out, but Newcastle are set to announce a nine-figure deal with Adidas next week, which will be the biggest in the club’s history, and significantly boost commercial revenues. It feels like a statement of not only where Newcastle are as a Champions League club, joining Real Madrid, Bayern Munich et al in the Adidas stable, but also where the Magpies are going, which is what Europe’s largest sportswear manufacturer looks for in prospective partners.
