Newcastle United are continuing to widen their recruitment scope under the watchful eye of sporting director Ross Wilson
Newcastle United sporting director Ross Wilson (L) with performance director James Bunce (R)(Image: 2026 Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA)
Newcastle United are looking to further strengthen their recruitment links in South America by hiring a First Team & Global Talent Scout in Argentina and Uruguay.
The Magpies have identified the region as having untapped potential in terms of their recruitment and one of sporting director Ross Wilson’s first moves in the job was to prise Thomas Federspiel away from Nottingham Forest.
The German scout, who helped Forest sign the likes of Murillo, Morato, Jair Cunha and Igor Jesus, was appointed as the Newcastle’s First Team & Global Talent Scout in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, with his influence already being felt by the signing of Ecuadorian teenager Johan Martinez.
And now they are looking to employ an equivalent role in Argentina and Uruguay, which would further strengthen their position in the continent when it comes to recruiting the best talent.
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The job description reads: “The First Team & Global Talent Scout (Argentina & Uruguay) will act as an ambassador for the Club within the assigned territory, leading on the identification and assessment of high‑potential players.
“Working closely with Recruitment leadership, the role supports evidence‑based decision‑making aligned to the Club’s long‑term strategy.
“This role will expect the successful candidate to travel throughout both Argentina and Uruguay, and occasionally also travel to regions in other South American countries.”
Speaking back in December, Wilson outlined his intention to increase Newcastle’s global footprint when it comes to scouting talent worldwide.
“I think it’s always easy to judge recruitment in the past. I’ve been there myself,” Wilson told Chronicle Live. “I think you’ve always got to judge recruitment with the context of time and what the need is at that specific time.
“Obviously, this club has been on a really interesting journey in recent times, from a relegation battle to a Champions League club, and that requires different things in different moments. That’s the first thing I would say.
“The second thing I would say is that the club had to navigate a really difficult period in the summer with Paul [Mitchell] moving on right at the end of last season or maybe a month later. They were operating without a sporting director in place.
“Obviously I couldn’t be here because I was still part of my previous club’s plans for that summer transfer window which was important there, and I respected that. Darren had to step away as well at the same time, so that wasn’t easy.
“But the club ultimately navigated that in a way that’s got us the squad we’ve got now, and there’s been some excellent acquisitions that have come from that summer period. 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. It’s not always the case, but I think it would be a fair assumption to say that’s something we’ll be looking into.”