Newcastle United are currently looking to sign a marquee midfielder ahead of next season, but that is not the only thing on the Magpies’ transfer agenda.
The club are also looking for future stars who can develop into first-team regulars at St James’ Park. And after signing Yankuba Minteh from Danish side Odense, Newcastle are now taking their scouting expertise to Germany.
It has been claimed that Eddie Howe’s side are interested in signing Hertha Berlin’s ’emerging’ star Derry Scherhant. He is a 20-year-old forward who has already made his senior debut, making 10 Bundesliga appearances and scoring one goal last season.
He is much more prolific at youth level, provided 10 goal contributions for the Hertha Berlin reserves during the 2022/23 campaign.
Scherhant is seen as someone who can push for a first-team place at St James’ Park, and a deal to snap him up from Hertha Berlin could cost as little as £1.5million.
For that kind of money, he could prove to be an absolute bargain, which would be very reminiscent of someone who arrived on Tyneside back in 2014.
Derry Scherhant can follow in Ayoze Perez’s footsteps at Newcastle
Nine years ago, Newcastle signed a young forward for £1.5million. His name was Ayoze Perez, and he arrived from Tenerife with the dream of becoming a Premier League regular at St James’ Park.
There was not too much hype when the Spaniard arrived – just hope that he would develop and eventually play a part for the senior side.
However, that happened much quicker than anticipated. Perez ended up making 36 Premier League appearances in his first season, scoring seven goals. He defied expectations, and quickly proved that he was a bargain addition at £1.5million.
Perez eventually became a key player, before leaving in 2019 for £30million. The Magpies made a huge profit on him, which summed up just how good a deal it was when they got him for less than £2million in 2014.
Now Newcastle will look to do the same with Scherhant. He will not arrive with the expectation of playing every week, but he will have the opportunity to force his way into the side in the coming years and potentially develop into a £30million player, just like Perez did.
They might not be similar in style, but this is the type of transfer that Dan Ashworth is famous for. He snaps up young talents for relatively small fees, and watches them blossom into Premier League stars. Then they can be sold on for huge profits, which is great for FFP, or they stay put and thrive after rising through the ranks.
Newcastle are looking to sign Scherhant, and a £1.5million deal could see him become the next Ayoze Perez.
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