Eddie Howe was full of praise for 17-year-old Lewis Miley after his Newcastle United debut yesterday at Chelsea.
Newcastle Academy graduate Lewis Miley was rewarded for his hard work this season with a 15 minute cameo against Chelsea, during which he almost scored a belter of a goal.
Miley found himself in the right place at the right time as Callum Wilson was dispossessed in the box as he tried to turn and shoot, the ball rolled to the edge of the area where Miley meet it perfectly fizzing a shot high towards the top corner but it had just too much lift on it and it struck the bar and went behind.
Eddie Howe wants to see more of Miley around the first team next season
After the game Eddie Howe spoke about what he hopes for Miley next season saying (via The Northern Echo): “He’s just turned 17, so I don’t want to place too much expectation on him, but he is someone we believe in. I certainly hope he is in and around training with us regularly next season.”
“Lewie is a really exciting talent. He should be pleased with how he did when he came on.
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“It’s a tough environment to come into for your first Premier League game, but he could have nicked it. He’s a very good finisher, so it wouldn’t have surprised me to see that go in.”
The thought of the big money transfers is very exciting to Newcastle fans, but producing a talent like Lewis Miley and seeing them rise through the ranks is even more exciting. To think that next year the Newcastle squad will have three superb academy graduates in Sean Longstaff, Elliot Anderson and now Lewis Miley is a testament to the work being done at the club.
Miley being able to impress in training already is a very good sign
It definitely sounds like Miley is putting in the effort too having impressed Howe in training this season. He told NUFC TV: “Fitting reward really for his work this season [the debut]. Every time he’s trained with us he’s been really, really good he looks at home with the lads on the training ground which is no mean feat because the standards is very high.
“We really like him. He’s very young so I don’t want to put too much pressure on his shoulders. He’s got to remain very focused and keep working on his game, but he’s a credit really to everyone at the academy.”
If he can hold his own in Howe’s training sessions at 17 then he’s going to become an absolute monster.