Promising striker will be a loan star
NEWS that Adam Armstrong will spend the first half of next season away on loan has divided Newcastle United’s supporters.
For many sections of the Toon Army there has long been a clamour to see the Chapel House-born striker given an opportunity at Newcastle.
It followed a fantastic campaign in 2015-16 where he netted an incredible 20 goals in 40 appearances for League One side Coventry.
However last season he stepped up to the Championship – albeit away from Tyneside with Barnsley – and failed to make as big an impact with the Tykes, netting six in 34 games.
But as Armstrong looks set for a third temporary move in as many seasons, some supporters are questioning if the exciting academy graduate will ever get his chance at the club.
A prolific striker, what Armstrong lacks in physical presence he more than makes up for in natural instinct and clinical finishing. He’s very much in the mould of a young Michael Owen; small but with a knack of being in the right place at the time.
While he’s scored for fun at youth international level, last season was probably the biggest indicator that he’s still not quite ready yet - particularly with the Magpies stepping up to the Premier League in the upcoming season.
Rafa Benitez still has some doubts over the youngster but having experienced the rigours of the Championship for the first time last season, another temporary stay in the second tier could be exactly what he needs.
That definitely doesn’t mean he has no future at the club. He’s still only 20 after all. And should he need any inspiration then he and concerned fans should look no further than Tottenham striker Harry Kane.
Having scored 75 Premier League goals in the last three seasons, even Alan Shearer has admitted the Spurs man has the most realistic chance of anyone of beating his incredible Premier League goals record. And yet, just four years ago the 23-year-old was in a very similar situation to Armstrong.
Scoring at youth international level and for the U21s at Spurs, he just could not get his break in the first team.
Instead, over the course of three seasons he went out on loan four times - to Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and finally Leicester. At Millwall he scored seven in 22 games and was named Young Player of the Season, having led their run to safety. Speaking in March, Kane said it was his loan spell at the Den that had shaped his development most.
He said: “My loan at Millwall was a big part of my development. I was 18, we were in a relegation battle and it turned me into a man. “I played in difficult, high-pressure games and I managed to come out of it positively. I had a great time at the club.” At 20 Armstrong is hungry and needs to play. Were he to stay at Newcastle he’d be most likely to have a few sub appearances here and there, while mostly keeping his fitness up in the under-23s, which doesn’t have that same high-pressure feel to it that Kane alluded to.
Multiple loan spells is something Tottenham did with many of their bright young stars. Former Newcastle star Andros Townsend had as many as nine loan spells in just four years before he became a regular at Spurs. While his career has seen him move on, he still benefited from playing regular first team football before going on to play for England.
Kane’s regular action in the lower leagues have without doubt helped shape the dominant Premier League goalscorer we see today.
He went away, made mistakes, learned more about the game with hands-on experience and grew as a player as a result.
While nobody should expect Armstrong to have as big an impact at Newcastle, there’s no reason why multiple loan moves will leave him with no future at the club.