Newcastle add former Sunderland star alongside former Black Cats boss to academy

Newcastle United are restructuring the academy in the wake of Ben Dawson's exit in July.

Ben Dawson left his role as academy manager at Newcastle to work with the Leicester City first-team with Newcastle turning to former Sunderland manager Jack Ross to take over as interim boss of the U21s.

Jack Ross continues in the role on an interim basis alongside Neil Winskill while former Sunderland player Liam Bridcutt has joined the academy setup as a sessional coach according to the press release issued by the club today.

As well as former Sunderland men, the Magpies academy brought in James Marwood from Middlesbrough to support Chris Moore in looking after the Under 18s.

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New positions have been created as part of the reshuffle

As well as a host of other changes which has seen several coaches promoted to the next age bracket, Newcastle have also appointed Moyo Arowolo as pre-academy/foundation phase coach which is a new position.

Newcastle's academy is still growing after being left to rot for many years and we are already starting to see the benefits of the new focus.

Players like Lewis and Jamie Miley have impressed enough to be given glimpses of first-team action, with Lewis becoming a regular player last season during Newcastle's injury crisis.

Newcastle are hoping to build an academy to match the likes of Manchester City

Trevan Sanusi caught the eye of many fans during the summer with his involvement in pre-season games after Newcastle spotted his talent and snatched him from Birmingham City.

Ultimately the goal will be to replicate what Manchester City are able to do with their academy players. The likes of Phil Foden have become key figures for the club, but they also make plenty of money selling on their academy players.

Cole Palmer came through the Man City academy before moving to Chelsea where he became an overnight sensation.

One day in the future, Newcastle will hopefully be able to do the same with their academy players.