Player confirms he’s signing for Newcastle United - was at St James’ Park for Tottenham win

Irish goalkeeper Reece Byrne has confirmed he is signing for Newcastle United this summer.

Byrne, 18, will join from League of Ireland outfit Bohemians, where he made his first-team debut during a 2-1 defeat to Dundalk in October last year.

That is Byrne’s only first-team appearance. He has made appearances at a number of youth levels for the Republic of Ireland and has earned three caps at under-19s level.

Although the transfer is yet to be officially confirmed by Newcastle, Byrne has taken to social media to make the announcement.

In an Instagram post, the young stopper said: “Absolutely buzzing to sign for this massive club @nufc , also a big thanks to @stjosephsafc53 [St. Josephs AFC] and @bfcdublin [Bohemian FC] for developing me as a player and more importantly as a person, now time to get to work”

Byrne was in the stands at St James’ Park for Sunday’s 6-1 demolition of Tottenham Hotspur. He becomes the second Irishman to sign for Newcastle in the last 12 months following Alex Murphy’s move from Galway United.

Byrne isn’t 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 19 appearances for the Seagulls and earning his first senior cap for the Republic of Ireland.

Byrne is set to battle Max Thompson, former East Fife youngster Jude Smith and North Shields-born Will Brown for the under-21s No.1 jersey.

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