Newcastle United beat West Ham & Tottenham Hotspur to new signing - medical set to take place

Newcastle United have fought off interest from several clubs to agree a deal for highly-rated Manchester City youngster Alfie Harrison.

The 18-year-old midfielder is expected to undergo a medical on Tyneside in the coming days ahead of joining for an undisclosed fee. Harrison will sign a long-term contract and has been provided with a 'clear path towards first-team action', according to The Athletic.

Harrison, who joined Man City's academy aged nine, has scored eight times in eight Premier League U18s games and made his under-21s debut in December. He's also trained with Pep Guardiola's first-team. It's claimed Harrison has drawn comparisons to Erling Haaland for "their visual resemblance and has recorded impressive goal and assist statistics for their age-group teams".

HITC reports that Harrison had attracted interest from West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion, Celtic, Valencia, Borussia Dortmund and Nice before deciding to move to St James' Park.

Newcastle head of youth recruitment Paul Midgley, who joined from Man City in 2022, is understood to have played a key role in the move with talks centred around Harrison having a clear path towards the first-team.

Indeed, Eddie Howe has showed a willingness to hand young players first-team opportunities, the prime example being 17-year-old Lewis Miley, who has made 18 appearances this season. Meanwhile the likes of Alex Murphy, Ben Parkinson, Michael Ndiweni and Amadou Diallo have appeared on the bench.

The academy has been a real focus for Newcastle's owners since taking over the club in October 2021.

In the summer, under-18s trio Trevan Sanisu, Travis Hernes and Leo Shahar arrived from Birmingham City, Shrewsbury Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers, respectively. Meanwhile, Michael Mills of League One side Port Vale, Oldham Athletic prospect Sam Alabi and Kacey Wooster of Southend United joined the Magpies’ academy ranks at under-15s and under-16s level.