Scout of Africa ... why Toon’s talent spotters should be heading for Cameroon
EVERY Geordie within our borders and scattered across the globe cannot wait for January to dawn.
A brand new year, a brand new era and for brand new owners the first chance to splash the cash so desperately required if salvation is to arrive.
A chance to rescue Newcastle United and put their foot firmly on the first rung of a ladder which could lead to anywhere.
Well, here is a thought: if United are scouring the Premier League and the playing fields of Europe for top talent then are they also about to look seriously at potentially the richest pickings on offer?
I am talking about the African Cup of Nations which will be played for between January 9 and February 9 in Cameroon.
Not only for immediate impact in the increasingly fraught fight against Championship expulsion this season but in the slightly longer term.
Are other Premier League clubs for that matter going to seriously scout one of the greatest collections of footballing talent on Planet Earth?
If not, why not? Because this is a real opportunity to make a killing.
While managers like Jurgen Klopp complain publicly about the African Cup of Nations robbing them of key players at a critical stage of the season, I wonder how many are secretly arranging for trusted scouts to undergo test and quarantine arrangements so they can fly to Cameroon and take advantage of a tournament held in a single country over one month, instead of having to make countless trips to far-off places or scout individual clubs, which is incredibly more time-consuming.
All the advantages are there. Players who are hungry to shoot for the stars abroad, who will not necessarily cost the huge transfer fees and wages of already established players in Europe.
Of course the African Cup of Nations will be dominated by big names already admired across the world but there will also lso be the stars of tomorrow on n show as well as the stars s of today.
How good a breeding ng ground is this particu- lar tournament?
Well, the Premier League superstars who will be on display include Mo Salah (Egypt), Sadio Mane (Senegal), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria), Naby
Keita (Guinea),
Pierre-E me rick Aubameyang (Gabon), Thomas
Party (Ghana) and d Wilfried Zaha and d Nicolas Pepe (Ivory ory Coast).
Then, if you will, consider the legends of Africa – the likes of Didier Drogba, rogba Yaya Toure, Samuel Eto’o, George Weah, Jay-Jay Okocha, O Michael Essien, Nwankwo Kanu, Emmanuel Emman Adebayor and Roger Milla.
What W clubs can look for come January is the next ne Salah or Drogba. Even the Saudis want w value for money and it is rumoured some PL clubs, c who fear an eventual challenge to their Champions League L status, will be b reluctant to sell to Newcastle. Did we not enjoy Demba De Ba, Papiss Cis Cisse and Cheick Tiote? Tiot
If we all look at the World Cup finals and European Europea Championships as a must-scout must opportunity then it is insulting ins and foolish not to go mob-handed to the African Cup of Nations.
There is so much natural undiscovered talent strutting its stuff.
It is lazy to merely look at videos. Clubs have to be there.
United ought to be in the front row but for that matter North East fallen giants Sunderland and Middlesbrough should also be looking for bargains to catapult them back towards the Premier League.
In the bright new world of NUFC where owners wish to be blotting paper absorbing every possibility I hope they may be well represented in Cameroon.
Such is the worldwide interest in Newcastle’s Saudi takeover that the Big Apple wants to take a bite out of us.
The New York Times Magazine has dispatched its London-based writer to the banks of the Tyne to suss out what the craic is all about.
You know, why a city tucked away in the North East outpost of England, built on coalmining and shipbuilding with a fervent footballing background despite not winning anything for a generation, is selected for a takeover by the super-rich Saudis.
Are we damned by the human rights controversy or blessed by the huge influx of money which can bring untold success after a decade and a half of living on Skid Row under Mike Ashley?
The American fascination is not just because Geordies appear to be the greatest ever supporters of failure (the success of 1927, 1955 and 1969 all so long ago) but because in one fell swoop we have become the richest football club on earth and the most hated by neutrals.
Why? Moral grounds or basic jealousy?
My thoughts were solicited given my 55 unbroken years of reporting all things NUFC for the Chron and having actually been present in Budapest’s press box when the last trophy was won, while some of today’s younger generation of supporters were also quizzed on what the takeover means to them and their aspirations.
Aye, the last time America was curious about the Magpies was when I was in Atlanta for the Olympic Games of 1996. The Yankee papers were full of a world record transfer fee being paid for a footballer – £15m when Alan Shearer came home from Blackburn Rovers.
If United are scouring the PL and Europe, are they also about to look at potentially the richest pickings on offer?