Newcastle United have an excellent first team, which has gone from strength to strength under Eddie Howe’s wing. Progress begets progress, and The Little Benton Academy has made gains in concurrence with the senior set-up.
Sean Longstaff is a regular feature in Howe’s squad, while Elliot Anderson sadly left for Nottingham Forest this summer to placate the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, albeit it was a sale worth £35m.
This is a side targetting prominence sustained across many many years, and with talents like Lewis Miley emerging at the same point of Howe’s project taking off, there’s genuinely much to be excited about.
Lewis Miley is Newcastle's biggest talent
Miley was hailed for his “unbelievable” quality by Longstaff, fellow Toon, last season – and rightly so. The 18-year-old has already completed 28 senior appearances, notching five goal contributions, and was crucial in fighting off a catalogue of injuries that ravaged a promising campaign.
A prodigious distributor with clear tactical intelligence and decision-making, Miley has all the tools to become a real star, already a Premier League goalscorer too.
Injuries have precluded Miley’s involvement across the opening months of the 2024/25 campaign, but he’ll be itching to get back and make his mark post-haste.
The fans will too, and they will also be eager to see Newcastle’s latest academy superstar emerge from the mists, with up-and-coming defender Charlie McArthur sure to be at the front of the line.
Howe could find his new star in Charlie McArthur
Miley might be the talk of the town at the moment, but the gains made at youth level might see more flow through the gates soon, with McArthur one of the most likely to catch the eye.
Newcastle failed to sign a central defender this summer despite throwing four official offers at Crystal Palace for Marc Guehi, and thus there is a potential chink in the line-up that a young buck like McArthur could snatch, having risen through the ranks on Tyneside since moving from further north.
Newcastle U21
22
2
0
1,421′
Newcastle UEFA U19
6
0
1
467′
Kilmarnock
4
0
0
270′
Newcastle U18
3
0
0
270′
McArthur has successfully established himself as a star player of the U21 outfit on Tyneside, and so there’s only one more step to take before he reaches the pinnacle of Newcastle’s pyramid.
The Scottish defender arrived from Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock in 2022 and was even hailed as a “huge prospect” by reporter Mike McGrath, since working assiduously to prove that he might just have what it takes to break into the top set-up.
He’s a dynamic and robust centre-back with the kind of crisp and commanding presence that could see him make a good impression in the Premier League.
In The Pipeline
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Across three matches against senior opposition in the EFL Trophy this term, McArthur averaged 5.3 clearances and 4.5 ball recoveries per game, as per Sofascore, also winning a whopping 65% of his contested duels, averaging seven per outing in that one.
This bodes well indeed. Newcastle may well feel that they have hit the jackpot in regard to Miley, budding midfield maestro, but a little lower down the pitch, McArthur could become a player of equal merit in Howe’s first team.
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