Newcastle United transfer news as South American scout swoops to sign teen
Newcastle United’s Sporting Director Ross Wilson
Newcastle United appear to have won the race to sign highly-rated Ecuador youngster Johan Martinez, beating a host of European clubs to his signature.
The Magpies are continuing their policy of trying to sign players from across the globe as part of their youth recruitment drive and have had their eyes on South American market for a while now.
One of sporting director Ross Wilson’s first appointment’s after landing at Newcastle was to bring in highly-rated scout Thomas Federspiel, who had worked with him at Nottingham Forest. Federspiel was appointed as a first team and global talent scout for Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia.
The German talent spotter’s background includes stints at Forest, Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim and Borussia Monchengladbach and he has been hard at work from his South America base.
And he appears to have made a quick impact in the chase for 16-year-old Martinez. The winger, who plays for Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle, has been identified as one of the most exciting prospects emerging in South America and is described as a pacey winger, capable of playing off either flank as well as through the middle.
The move comes after Ecuadorian national manager Sebastián Beccacece revealed earlier this week that Newcastle were looking to sign one of the country’s best talents.
Beccacece was explaining how he had made changes to his squad since becoming the head coach and adopted a new youth strategy. He said: “Our great achievement was looking beyond the immediate result. In 20 months, we changed about 65% of the squad. Today we have one of the youngest teams. in addition, many players are coming up behind us. We have worked a lot with youth players.
“We held three-day training camps and got to know more than 140 players. This allows us to have a broad base and understand the talent that exists in the country.”
“We have two 16-year-old twins who were bought by Arsenal, another who was bought by Chelsea, and there’s a player born in 2009 who is being pursued by Newcastle.”
The Arsenal deal he mentioned was for Independiente twins Edwin and Holger Quintero, who they have agreed to sign. The Gunners were also keeping tabs on Martinez, as were Chelsea, Brighton and Bundesliga duo RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen.
Newcastle, thanks to Wilson and Federspiel, look to have convinced the teenager and his family that Newcastle is the best place for him to continue his career. The Magpies recruitment team have outlined the pathway for development and their investment in youth.
Martinez, however, must remain in Ecuador until 2028, when he turns 18. Should he agree terms with Newcastle, he will then follow in the footsteps of the likes of Vakhtang Salia, who was forced to wait until his 18th birthday before officially joining United from Georgian side Dinamo Tbilisi.
The Magpies have also signed the likes of Seung-soo Park and Antonio Cordero in the last 12 months as they continue to scour different markets for young talent.
Wilson told Chronicle Live back in December: “Moving forward, we definitely want to expand our recruitment network. We’ve already done that, to be honest, in my time here. We’ve already expanded the recruitment network. We’ll continue to do so as we move forward.
“I think it’s also clear that we feel that it’s highly likely, not always, but highly likely that there’ll be more value outside of the Premier League than there is in it..”