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Newcastle United staff think they’ve found their next star and he’s not even made the first-team yet

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Newcastle United are eager to continue developing their youth players.

A focus on youth development has become standard since Eddie Howe’s arrival in 2021 with several players being called up to first-team training and even making appearances in the Premier League.

Last season saw the true rise of Lewis Miley who has already amassed 17 Premier League appearances at 18 years old.

While players like Ben Parkinson have taken advantage of injuries to get their first minutes in the league following in the footsteps of Miley and longstanding Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff.

An increase in youth recruitment hasn’t gone unnoticed either with several academy prospects leaving highly thought-of academies to move to Tyneside and fans will be happy that sporting director Paul Mitchell wants to continue recruiting youth.

Alfie Harrison Joined Newcastle in January from Manchester City while Cathal Heffernan left AC Milan in favour of a move to the North East.

Now, there is another player with a lot of potential that could make his way into Newcastle’s first-team squad.

Mansfield Town v Newcastle United U21  Bristol Street Motors Trophy
Photo by Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images

Anthony Munda has made a good impression in Newcastle United’s youth ranks

Anthony Munda has made his way through Newcastle’s youth ranks since signing for the club in 2015. Now 18, he is playing consistent football for the Magpies under-18s and under-21s.

According to the Daily Mail, Munda is highly rated by Newcastle staff who believe he can make the step up to the first team if he is given time.

So far this season, Munda has made eight appearances in the Premier League 2 scoring in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland.

Newcastle called up Munda to first-team training in October and has aspirations of surpassing the likes of Joelinton. He said: “It was a great opportunity to play for the first team [in pre-season],”

“I look up to the likes of Joelinton and Joe Willock but, at the end of the day, I want to try and surpass them and make my own place in the first-team squad.”

Anthony Munda’s development is huge for Newcastle’s PSR problems

It was well-documented how much PSR affected Newcastle in the summer. There was a big risk of a points deduction which only went away when Newcastle sold Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson who are now thriving for their new clubs.

If Munda can reach the heights Newcastle staff believe he can it would be huge for the club. Developing a youth player would cost far less than it would to sign someone from elsewhere.

Even if Newcastle were to sell the young midfielder in the future they would receive pure profit thanks to his academy links.

Howe will be watching his development closely throughout the rest of the season while Munda will be eyeing a first-team appearance before the end of the season.