Video: Forgotten Newcastle United signing scores superb header on first competitive outing
Newcastle United's summer acquisition Vakhtang Salia has had a rough time since joining the Magpies on his 18th birthday in August.
Vakhtang Salia and Newcastle United struck a deal way back in October 2024 for the Georgian wonderkid to become a Newcastle player.
Unfortunately, thanks to good old Brexit, European players can no longer join English teams before their 18th birthday, so Newcastle had to wait until August last year for Salia to become a Newcastle player.
The Georgian, who has already been compared to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, arrived at Newcastle with little to no fanfare and then seemed to vanish completely, leaving fans to wonder if the deal had secretly fallen through.
Vakhtang Salia headed Newcastle into a two-goal lead against Leicester City last night
It turned out that the youngster had picked up a serious injury and had only just returned to action.
Last night, Salia made his first competitive start for Newcastle's Under 21s following on from scoring in a friendly a week prior.
It didn't take long for Salia to make his mark as he struck a powerful header beyond the Leicester City goalkeeper to give Newcastle a 2-0 lead after Kyle Fitzgerald had turned home a Park Seung-soo cross to give the Magpies the lead.
Newcastle's Under 21s have learned well from the senior side
Unfortunately, as our Under 21's tend to do (much like the first team, let's be honest), they let the two-goal lead slip and the game finished 2-2.
However, the big positive is seeing Vakhtang Salia on the pitch and scoring straight away.
So often we get these promising youngsters in and we see all of their promise evaporate before our very eyes, but early indications suggest that Salia could be the exception.
