Dan Ashworth has been getting his hands dirty by personally scouting a potential signing for Newcastle United, youngster Adam Wharton currently impressing at Blackburn Rovers.
Newcastle continue to build an impressive scouting empire, but it seems that Dan Ashworth is not above doing the job himself having been spotted along with Mick Tait casting their eye over England youth midfielder Adam Wharton of Blackburn.
That is according to The Daily Mail who claim that Newcastle are one of several Premier League clubs who have sent delegates to look over the 18-year-old.
A former Newcastle flop is now in the Ewood Park hot seat
Former Newcastle forward, Jon Dahl Tomasson is the boss at Ewood Park these days, but given how poorly his spell on Tyneside went, I’ll not be expecting any favours from him.
Wharton has broken into the Rovers’ first team this season making 20 senior appearances in all competitions, but it’s thought that Blackburn feel that he’d be best of staying put until that figure reaches closer to 100 as they feel his development would be better served under them.
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Arsenal, Leicester, Tottenham and West Ham have all sent scouts to Blackburn and all have come back with positive things to say about the England u19 international.
Newcastle should look at buying Wharton and loaning him back to Blackburn
This season Wharton has played centre-midfield, CDM and attacking-midfield, showing that he is comfortable wherever he needs to be deployed. He has been likened to Jack Wilshere in terms of his playing style.
That kind of versatility is the thing that Dan Ashworth will be looking for in the next generation at Newcastle has his aim is to make sure that the same type of football is played at all levels of the club, so adaptability is key.
With Blackburn’s eagerness to keep Wharton, maybe Newcastle could look at a deal where they buy Wharton but loan him back to Ewood Park for a season. That would suit all parties it seems. Plus it saves Shola Ameobi the job of finding the youngster a club to go out to for development.