It won't just be Geordies and overseas talents who will have a big say on Newcastle United's future. Something is stirring in the south and the Magpies know it. A whopping 14% of the Premier League’s English-born players came from just ten square miles of south London as recently as 2020 and Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has gone as far to say that the area is in the 'top two or three hotbeds for football in the world'.
You can see why Newcastle want a presence in the capital and beyond, and few know the region better than Delroy Ebanks, who looks set to take up a position as a talent spotter down south for the club after serving as West Ham's head of youth recruitment. For all the money Newcastle spend on new signings in 2023, this could prove a crucial addition behind the scenes if the words of Colchester United current sporting director Dmitri Halajko are anything to go by. Halajko worked with Ebanks as West Ham's reserve team boss and described his former colleague as 'one of the top guys around in the south'.
"Del was one of those people where you would always trust his judgement," he told ChronicleLive. "If he said there was a good player at a certain club or out of a club that he wanted to bring in, you wouldn't feel you had to question it or look at that player yourself. You always knew when they came into training they would be at the level."
