Newcastle United loan 'promising' forward to Feyenoord – Dan Ashworth issues statement

Newcastle United today confirmed the signing of Yankuba Minteh from Danish side Odense.

The 18-year-old forward – who scored four goals in the Danish Superliga last season – will be loaned to Dutch club Feyenoord for the 2023/24 season.

United sporting director Dan Ashworth, said: “We are very pleased to be bringing a player with Yankuba’s high potential to Newcastle United.

“He has done extremely well in his first full season in Denmark, and he has a promising career ahead of him.

“We look forward to working with him in this exciting phase of his development, and we’re excited to see how he performs at Feyenoord, a club that also has a strong development record of its own.

“As well as supporting the first team with players for the here and now, we have a clear philosophy to invest in emerging talent and we want to provide a player pathway that will help to build and sustain long-term success.”

Lightning pace

Minteh – who also has lightning pace – quickly made his mark at Odense last season.

The Gambian scored a winner for his team on his debut, a seven-minute cameo, against champions Copenhagen last September.

Minteh ended the campaign with four league goals to his name, and his breakthrough didn’t go unnoticed in his homeland.

Bakary Bojang, MInteh's agent, revealed his nickname in Gambian when speaking in a recent documentary.

“If you say Minteh’s name in Gambia, it’s possible that no one will recognise him,” said Bojang. “If you say Messi instead, they will immediately think of Minteh.”