Newcastle United youngster Josef Yarney is set to be included in the club’s senior pre-season squad, according to Chronicle Live.
The newspaper claims that the 20-year-old is set to travel to Ireland with the first-team squad on Wednesday for their pre-season training camp.
The central defender was a regular in the Newcastle Under-23 side last season, making 19 appearances for the youth team and scoring twice, but Yarney is now set to be given an opportunity to earn a place in the senior side by Toon boss Rafael Benitez (TransferMarkt).
Yarney is originally from the Merseyside area but joined the Magpies from Everton in July 2016 on a free transfer (TransferMarkt).
OPINION
Newcastle United’s academy system has produced some great footballers over the last couple of years, but few have managed to make a real impact in the first-team. Of course, Paul Dummett and Andy Carroll are the exceptions, but Carroll moved on to Liverpool in 2011 before he really cement himself as a fan favourite. Other players such as Rolando Aarons, Adam Armstrong, Shane Ferguson, James Tavernier and Fraser Forster never managed to make an impact at the club, despite clearly having the talent to do so. The fact that Rafael Benitez is set to include Yarney in his pre-season senior squad is an indication that the Spaniard is willing to give the young talent a chance to impress, hopefully he takes this opportunity and St. James Park will be signing his name in a few seasons. It’s been a while since a young player has made the breakthrough into the first-team, could next season see someone do just that?