Newcastle United announce first summer signing as Dan Ashworth confirms loan deal

Newcastle United have announced their first summer signing. Gambian forward Yankuba Mineth will officially join from Danish side Odense Boldklu on July 1.

However, rather than continue his development on Tyneside, the 18-year-old has been loaned to Dutch champions Feyenoord for the 2023-24 campaign.

Magpies sporting director, Dan Ashworth explained: “We are very pleased to be bringing a player with Yankuba’s high potential to Newcastle United.

“He has done extremely well in his first full season in Denmark, and he has a promising career ahead of him. We look forward to working with him in this exciting phase of his development, and we’re excited to see how he performs at Feyenoord, a club that also has a strong development record of its own.

“As well as supporting the first team with players for the here and now, we have a clear philosophy to invest in emerging talent and we want to provide a player pathway that will help to build and sustain long-term success.”

Minteh, whose manager at Odense Andreas Alm handed Alexander Isak his debut at AIK in 2016, has enjoyed an impressive breakthrough into senior football having scored four goals and provided six assists in 22-23.

The youngster admitted last month he was open to joining Eddie Howe’s Newcastle.

“Of course, I want to go to Newcastle,” Minteh said. “It’s a big club in the Premier League and they’re doing something good. They are fighting for a place in the Champions League. I am ready to take the next step, and it will only be good for me.”

Odense sporting director Bjorn Wesstrom revealed several clubs had enquired about Minteh before opting to join Newcastle.

Wesstrom said: “I have been in dialogue with a number of top clubs, but we don’t know how it will end. There are always many rumours about a player who has the stats he has, and that is positive. We must have recruited him well.”