Eddie Black will be a 'very good' hire for Newcastle United because the lead academy scout has 'excellent knowledge' of burgeoning talent in the region.
That is according to Joe Monks, the head of football operations at South Shields, who is well-placed to comment. In fact, Monks was head of academy recruitment at Wolves when Black worked for the club as a regional scouting coordinator in the North East and Scotland.
Black spent seven years at Wolves before becoming Norwich City's first-team scout in the same territory between 2019 and 2022, where he would 'scratch itches', and the Geordie was snapped up by Arsenal last summer. However, it said a lot about both Newcastle's project and Black's roots that he was prepared to leave his role as Arsenal's Northern England and Scotland emerging talent scout after less than a year at the Emirates to move to his boyhood club. So what will Black bring to Newcastle?
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"Eddie is a very good man - genuine, hard-working and honest," Monks told ChronicleLive. "He had excellent knowledge of the local area and really embedded himself within the local community. He will be very good for Newcastle."
Black is one of a number of key appointments Newcastle have made behind the scenes as part of the club's academy recruitment overhaul. This is not only in an effort to spot the next generation of talent but, also, to save millions in transfer fees in the long run to help comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.
Paul Midgley has joined from Man City as head of youth recruitment and Paul McLaren will follow from the Etihad as head of national youth scouting once he has served his period of gardening leave. Delroy Ebanks, meanwhile, is on his way from West Ham as a lead academy scout in the south.
As well as hiring Black, Ebanks and co, Newcastle are also bringing in part-time youth talent spotters in London, the South West, East Anglia, the Midlands, the North West and Yorkshire. Having a presence on the ground in these regions is all the more important after Brexit prevented English clubs from being able to work with foreign youngsters until they are 18 and, even then, these imports still need to qualify for a Governing Body Endorsement (GBE).
Closer to home, Newcastle can currently sign youngsters aged between seven and 11 within an hour of the training ground and those aged 12 and older within a 90-minute radius. However, under-14 players can be recruited from across the country and Newcastle are casting the net wide as Midgley recently alluded to.
"Fans love local lads progressing through their club's youth system," he told the club's match day programme. "No one can hide that. I've heard the phrase 'adopted Geordie' so many times since I've been at the club and it's one of those areas where people do love it once they come up and live here or feel the warmth of the people.
"We always want to improve productivity from the academy and whether it is a kid from Newcastle itself or bringing players in from outside of the area, I think the academy can be proud of anybody who manages to get across to such a high level of football and knowing we've played a part in that is huge.
"A player born in Newcastle, someone who supports the club, is the kind of player you'd want to turn out but we'd take as much pride in taking someone from outside the area who the academy has helped develop to progress through. We are at a level now where we are competing towards the top six places in the Premier League so with anyone who can come through the system and establish themselves in a rounded group like that, we would take enormous pride in that."
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