Newcastle United are at the front of the queue for Inter Milan sensation Kevin Zefi this summer - and the Magpies have an advantage in the race for the 18-year-old. Zefi left Shamrock Rovers for the Italian giants on a three-year deal in 2021 but is expected to leave this summer.
The man currently offering guidance to the youngster is fellow Irishman and ex-Newcastle United defender Stephen Carr. The former right-back, who now owns a lavish bar in Spain, featured 78 times for the Magpies in the Premier League and knows a thing or two about life on Tyneside, with Zefi turning to the retired pro for advice on his career.
“Having a player at Inter and AC Milan can only be good for Irish football,” said former Ireland international Carr. “Kevin has opened a door that was always closed.
READ MORE: Newcastle United keen to avoid Allan Saint-Maximin 'saga' as AC Milan linked again
"Italians are now asking, have we been a bit blind to this, to Irish talent? You’ll never have as many Irish players in Italy as we’ve had in England over the years, it will be a small group, but there will be more to come."
Zefi is open to cutting short his Italian experiment, which has alerted Newcastle and a host of other Premier League sides. Brexit rules barred British clubs from signing Irish players under the age of 18, which allowed Inter to swoop two years ago.
Zefi has excelled in the Serie A youth setup over the last two years but would be reunited with Ireland under-19 teammates Alex Murphy and Reece Byrne upon arrival on Tyneside. Zefi has also represented Ireland at under-15s and under-17s after snubbing the chance to represent Albania despite being eligible through his parents.
Newcastle director of football Dan Ashworth played a big role in both Murphy and Byrne joining the club in the last 12 months, with both players seen as potential future first-team stars. Ashworth has sought to bolster the youth ranks at Newcastle, adding the likes of Charlie McArthur, Jordan Hackett and Amadou Diallo to the under-21s.
Garang Kuol was signed from Central Coast Mariners as an 18-year-old, while Newcastle moved quickly to sign Yankuba Minteh from Danish side Odense earlier this summer. The aim with these signings being to reduce the need of signing first-team players every window.
"It's not sustainable for us to keep going out and buying 'here and now players' - we have to buy some potential and we have to get some potential through the building," Ashworth told Sky Sports earlier this year. "We've already got some in the academy now but we have to try and invest and upgrade that so Eddie has a nice problem to have. He's got a lot of good young players coming through the system trying to get in the team as well."
