Newcastle United U21 captain leaves for League Two club on permanent deal
Newcastle United have today confirmed another departure from the Under-21 squad that feels like quite a big deal.
The Magpies have been hoovering up young talent since the takeover in 2021 with a view to developing them into the team of the future.
However, very few of these signings have gone on to become anything like what their hype suggested at the time of signing.
We genuinely don't know if it's poor scouting or bad management in the academy, but the failure rate seems to be huge.
Cathal Heffernan joined Newcastle United from AC Milan
In 2023, Newcastle United scooped up Irish defender Cathal Heffernan after he left AC Milan and the 20-year-old became the captain of the Under 21s.
There was a fair bit of talk about his arrival at the time, suggesting that he had a bright future ahead, but Heffernan never really got anywhere near the first-team like others around him like Alex Murphy.
Today, Newcastle United have confirmed that Heffernan has now moved to League Two Harrogate Town on a permanent transfer.
Cathal Heffernan is gearing up to be a crazy answer on a Pub Quiz
It's a strange career path for Heffernan, who made his senior debut for Cork City at 16 and was then spotted by AC Milan, moving there on loan before making the move permanent.
To go from the San Siro to the The Exercise Stadium via Newcastle seems like quite a fall from grace.
It may be the best move he makes, obviously, as he is likely to be given first-team opportunities now, and he could start to rebuild his career. We wish him the best of luck.
Meanwhile, we're going to continue to wonder what is going on at our academy with these talented youngsters.
