As Newcastle United struggle for first-team additions, the club did announce the arrival of Jude Smith last week.
It was reported on August 10th that the Magpies were closing in on summer signing number seven, with a teenager goalkeeper from East Fife set to cross the border.
The former Celtic youth had agreed a move to Newcastle, and the deal was announced on Friday. The club confirmed that Smith had impressed whilst on trial, and had signed a two-year contract at St James’ Park.
In the announcement, Smith was described as a youth signing. He was named alongside Alex Murphy, Charlie McArthur and Jordan Hackett who have also signed for Newcastle this summer.
But less than a week after joining Newcastle, Smith is already training with the first-team.
Jude Smith involved as Newcastle prepare to face Manchester City
The club have released training pictures ahead of this weekend’s game. Newcastle welcome Manchester City to St James’ Park, two teams who are yet to concede a goal this season.
Eddie Howe’s side will need to be at their best and then some to get something out of the game. The likes of Bruno Guimaraes and Allan Saint-Maximin will need to play much better than they did in the 0-0 draw with Brighton.
They have both been pictured training for the game against Man City, and so has Jude Smith.
Within less than a week since signing, the 19-year-old is already working with the first-team. He has trained alongside Nick Pope, who was sensational on Saturday, and backup stopper Martin Dubravka.
It’s a real show of faith in the youngster, as Howe casts his eye over his latest recruit.
Smith will be able to learn a lot from Pope and Dubravka. Hopefully they can mentor him and he eventually goes on to become a first-team regular at St James’ Park.
However, that won’t be happening for a long time. But for now, it’s incredibly encouraging to see Smith already get a chance to work with the senior squad.
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