Newcastle wait until the wee hours to post confirmation of move that will devastate many fans

Newcastle United waiting until 1am to formally announce the departure of 19-year-old winger Yankuba Minteh.

Yankuba Minteh had a 12-month spell at Newcastle United and visited the city once, never actually trained with the squad and yet still built up a legion of adoring fans.

The 19-year-old winger joined last summer for around £6million from Danish side OB Odense and was Newcastle's first summer signing. The deal was all wrapped up and signed in the Netherlands as immediately after signing his contract for Newcastle, he signed another for a season-long loan at Feyenoord.

It was under Arne Slot at Feyenoord that we got to watch this youngster grow in confidence, work on his game and eventually finish the season with 11 goals and six assists for the Rotterdam club, with one of those goals coming in the Champions League.

brightonandhovealbion.com

Newcastle fans weren't happy about this deal being done

This impressed a lot of Geordies who were excited to see what he could do in the black and white of Newcastle, but now we'll never know, something that has seemingly angered a lot of the fanbase.

Thanks to the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules and Newcastle's inability to colour within the lines, the Magpies were desperate to make quick money to avoid a points deduction and as young Minteh was the only player generating any real interest, he was the one the club focused on moving on for a quick sale.

The positive is that the club has made around a £27million profit after Brighton and Hove Albion stumped up a reported £33million for the promising winger.

Newcastle really need to work on their transfer announcement articles

Once again, like with Elliot Anderson, the club website's announcement was as dry as sticks. Granted, there wasn't much they could have said about Minteh as they've never actually even worked with him, but it all just felt so clinical, Anderson included.

Brighton's technical director David Weir was a bit more forthcoming via the Brighton site, speaking positively of the signing.

“Yankuba is a young talent that has attracted a lot of interest, so we’re delighted to welcome him to the club.

"He is an exciting attacking player with incredible speed. He had a very impressive campaign with Feyenoord, gaining experience in both the Champions League and Europa League.

“Now we will give him the time and support he needs to ensure that he settles in.”

We've seen how good Brighton have been over the years at developing young talent, so from Minteh's point of view he couldn't have gone to a better club in that sense, from ours, it could really come back to bite us.

Fortunately, it was a great piece of business by the club, even if it was one they'd rather not have done.