'Never change my mind' - Newcastle United rising star makes bold statement as Eddie Howe watches on

Eddie Howe has long had a keen eye on Sean Neave - and this week the Newcastle United youngster has reminded the head coach exactly what he’s got right under his nose.

In an era where Premier League rules and regulations incentivise the cultivation and sale of talents from the academy, Newcastle look to have a gem on their hands with 18-year-old Neave. However, no fan or the club, for that matter, will be in a rush to see the back of the Winlaton youngster, who hopes to one day patch the famous number nine on it.

Neave netted a first-half hat-trick in the under-21s’ 3-1 National League Cup win over Boston United on Wednesday night, further underlining all the talk about his rising stock.

And teenager admits, it’s time for him to kick on in black and white. He said: "I've been proud of my start to the season. I went through a few games in a bad patch but I feel that now I've scored the hat-trick, it can push me on further and I can keep the goalscoring run going.

“We came here tonight expecting to win but also knowing it would be a tough game so beating Boston is a good result and, hopefully against Scunthorpe and Halifax, we can get a result against them to top the group and get through to the next round.”

Sean Neave scores NUFC hat-trick in National League Cup

Speaking to nufc.co.uk, the England under-18 frontman said: “It was a top performance from the team. We knew it would be a tough game coming into it. Last year, we came here and got beat so it means a lot to the team to be able to come here and win this time, especially getting a hat-trick.

“I went a few games without scoring which was affected me a little bit but when I scored the penalty, I was getting my confidence back and it was good to score three goals.

“I never change my mind with a penalty! For the second goal, I made a good run through the middle and showed composure to dummy the defender and score across the keeper and then, for the third goal, it was another good run through the middle and showed composure when one-on-one with the goalkeeper.”

Sean Neave future - Eddie Howe keeping a keen eye on England youth

Neave has not long turned 18, but has already been in and around the NUFC first-team setup for around a year. And while the rangy frontman is yet to make his full senior bow, he was on the bench for the Magpies in the Carabao Cup final and a select number of Premier League games. He did make a senior friendly bow in the defeat to Celtic in the summer.

The teenager netted seven goals in seven games for Newcastle’s under-18 side last season, while also scoring four in five for the under-21s in Premier League 2. This season he’s kicked off with seven goals in his opening eight games at under-21 level. He’s scored six in his last five away games, including last night’s hat-trick.

Howe and his coaches have taken care in developing the youngster’s game in the last few months, and have the player on a special programme to become robust enough to eventually, all going well, play at the top level.

Neave will likely be kept around the senior United side this season, and could even make his first-team bow at some point, with Newcastle hoping to be fighting on all four fronts for deep into the 2025/26 season. Neave could well be a part of full Champions League squads this season, although he is yet to get the call, with senior numbers slightly limited due to UEFA ‘club trained’ rules. Jamaal Lascelles and John Ruddy were left out of the final Champions League squad, which kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 loss to Barcelona and a 4-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise.