He may not have even trained with Newcastle United yet but fans are very excited to see what the future holds for 19-year-old Yankuba Minteh.
Signed last summer, Yankuba Minteh was immediately loaned out to Eredivisie champions Feyenoord for this season where he's gone on to develop into a very hot prospect.
Newcastle acted fast to pick up the OB Odense winger and Feyenoord acted even faster securing the loan deal, and unlike many other loans involving Newcastle players, this one has worked a treat.
Minteh opened his goal-scoring account with Feyenoord in pre-season and that seemed to give him the confidence needed to kick on in the Eredivisie and even the Champions League.
Feyenoord have been so impressed with his development that they have expressed a desire to keep him for another season, but of course, the downside of developing a loan player is that the parent club are the ones who get to take advantage, and that's precisely what Newcastle plan to do.
Minteh is expected to join up with Newcastle in pre-season so that Eddie Howe can get a good look at him before deciding whether to give him a chance to fight for his place in the first team or whether he goes out on loan again.
Given the injury issues Newcastle faced this season, there was, at one point, a real hope that Newcastle would recall the youngster from his loan early so he could flesh out the squad here.
In the end, it was decided he was better off staying put and that's something that looks to have been a good move.
Feyenoord CEO, Dennis Te Kloese recently told Algemeen Dagblad (via HITC) that they still hold out hope of retaining Minteh.
“Newcastle United will discuss (Minteh’s future) in April. But he’s getting better. His speed is incredible and he’s still very young.”
While Feyenoord coach, Arne Slot told Voetbal International.
“He has made an excellent impression in recent weeks. He showed again (vs PSV) why Newcastle were willing to pay so much money for him.”
Feyenoord have certainly been impressed by the Gambian, but now it's soon time for him to come home and show the Premier League what he can do.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
14 | 18 | 35 |
2 |
Chelsea
|
15 | 17 | 31 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
15 | 14 | 29 |
4 |
Manchester City
|
15 | 6 | 27 |
5 |
Nottingham Forest
|
15 | 1 | 25 |
6 |
Aston Villa
|
15 | 0 | 25 |
7 |
Brighton
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
9 |
Brentford
|
15 | 3 | 23 |
10 |
Fulham
|
15 | 2 | 23 |
11 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
15 | 12 | 20 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
15 | -2 | 20 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
15 | 1 | 19 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
15 | -8 | 18 |
15 |
Everton
|
14 | -7 | 14 |
16 |
Leicester
|
15 | -9 | 14 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
15 | -6 | 13 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
15 | -13 | 9 |
19 |
Wolves
|
15 | -15 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
15 | -20 | 5 |