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?
