Newcastle have already done a 'good bit of business' to sign 'sought-after giant' this summer

Newcastle United have done a 'good bit of business' to sign 'sought-after' goalkeeper Reece Byrne from Bohemians.

That is the view of Ireland under-21 boss Jim Crawford, who is well-placed to comment on the academy's first signing of the summer. Not only has Crawford followed Byrne's progress for some time now - the former midfielder made the same journey from Dublin to Newcastle back in 1995.

While only a handful of Irish youngsters since Crawford have gone on to represent Newcastle's first team, the Magpies are taking note of burgeoning talent across the water at a time when the Boys in Green's underage sides are pulling off some impressive results. In fact, Byrne is just the latest Ireland under-19 international to join the club following Alex Murphy's arrival from Galway United last summer - and that is not a coincidence.

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Irish prospects may now have to wait until they are 18 to move to England because of Brexit, but the the Common Travel Area arrangement means they do not need a work permit like a player of the same age from further afield. That has worked in Byrne's favour as recruiting a similarly-aged goalkeeper from the continent would be even more complicated.

So what can Newcastle expect? Well, Byrne is very much one for the future, having only made his professional debut for Bohemians last October, but Crawford has described the 'giant' as someone with 'high potential'.

"I've known Reece a long time," Crawford told ChronicleLive. "I've seen him come up through St Joseph's Boys over here in Dublin when he was playing schoolboy football.

"He's been a sought-after goalkeeper so it's been a good bit of business that Newcastle have done to get him on board. Like all young players, he's got a lot of work to do on different areas of his game, but I'm sure there is a competent coaching staff at Newcastle that will identify his strengths and improvement areas that will help him reach his ceiling."

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