Newcastle United set to announce first summer signing

Newcastle United are set to add to their academy ranks with the signing of Irish goalkeeper Reece Byrne.

The 18-year-old stopper has made just one senior appearance for League of Ireland club Bohemians after he played the entire 90 minutes of a 2-1 away defeat against Dundalk in October last year.

He has made appearances at a number of youth levels for the Republic of Ireland and has earned three caps at Under-19 level, keeping clean sheets in Euro Under-19 Qualifiers against Gibraltar and Wales in September before starting in a 2-1 defeat against Slovakia earlier this year.

Although the transfer is yet to be officially confirmed by Newcastle, Byrne announced the move in a post on his social media as he pictured signing his contract on Tyneside. In an Instagram post, the young stopper said: “Proud day for me and my family to sign for such a big club like Newcastle, onwards and upwards from here”

Byrne would not be the first Bohemians academy graduate to join a Premier League club in recent years after highly-rated striker Evan Ferguson left the Dublin-based side to join Brighton and Hove Albion in January 2021. The 18-year-old frontman is enjoying a remarkable season after scoring eight goals in 18 appearances for the Seagulls and earning his first senior caps for the Republic of Ireland.

Byrne seems likely to join Newcastle at the end of the season and will join an impressive band of United academy goalkeepers. The highly-rated Max Thompson, former East Fife youngster Jude Smith and North Shields-born Will Brown have all made appearances for the Magpies Under-21s during a challenging season in Premier League 2.

The move could come as part of something of an overhaul of United’s goalkeeping options as senior stoppers Mark Gillespie and Loris Karius both approach the final months of their current deals and there continues to be speculation over the futures of Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow.