Newcastle miss out on Reuben McAllister as youngster joins Hibernian – Romano

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Newcastle United have been linked with signing Reuben McAllister from Bristol City, but it looks like the Magpies are going to miss out.

The Sun claimed last month that Eddie Howe’s side were interested in the teenager. McAllister was also attracting interest from Aston Villa, Celtic and Rangers.

However, the 16-year-old won’t be joining any of those clubs according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano. He states that McAllister is on his way to Edinburgh to sign for Hibernian.

Hibernian ‘set to sign’ Reuben McAllister

Romano has taken to Twitter to give details of McAllister’s imminent move to Hibs. He states that the attacking midfielder will join the Scottish side for £110,000, with a sell-on clause also included in the deal. McAllister will sign a three-year contract at Easter Road.

The transfer expert has also provided information on why McAllister has chosen to join Hib over ‘other options in England and Scotland’.

Romano states that Hibs manager Lee Johnson was a ‘decisive factor’ in his decision. The 41-year-old used to manage Bristol City, the team Hibs are signing McAllister from.

And he’s also a former Sunderland boss. He was in charge of the Black Cats before Alex Neil took them out of League One.

So a former Sunderland manager has stopped Newcastle landing a potential star of the future.

It’s certainly a blow, but not the end of the world. There was a lot of competition for him, and Newcastle have already made great strides this summer at improving their youth ranks.

Alex Murphy, Charlie McArthur and Jordan Hackett have all joined the club, while there is talk of a move for Southampton’s Tyler Dibling.

McAllister was another exciting target, but he is going elsewhere. However, it looks like he was simply destined to join Hibs. Johnson has played a part, and the fact his assistant is Reuben’s father Jamie McAllister likely influenced the decision too.

Newcastle miss out, and it will be interesting to see over the next five years how he develops. Whether or not he proves to be one that got away remains to be seen.