Newcastle United have called up defender Josef Yarney to the first-team squad for pre-season, according to the Chronicle.
The local newspaper claim that the 20-year-old centre-back joins fellow youngsters Sean Longstaff, Cal Roberts and Adam Armstrong who have also been promoted to the first-team training duties this week.
The Chronicle report that with Chancel Mbemba pushing for a move to Porto, Rafa Benitez has handed Yarney a chance to impressed and that the youngster could have a chance of being on the plane to next week’s trip to Ireland.
OPINION
The Magpies appear to lack numbers at the moment so it’s a smart decision by Benitez to call up promising talents to train with the first-team this summer. It seems Mbemba’s exit from the club must be relatively close with the Spanish boss opted to call up Yarney at this stage in order to cover for the 23-year-old centre-back potentially not being around soon. According to the Chronicle’s report the senior Magpies player has agreed terms with Porto but is waiting on the two clubs to agree on a price for his services, which must be causing him some frustration. However while Mbemba still looks likely to depart, the positive to take from his exit is that a player like Yarney has been given a chance to impress. The 20-year-old only arrived at St James Park from Everton in the summer of 2017 so he will no doubt be eager to rise through the ranks at the club as quickly as he physically can.
