OPINION
Newcastle United have struggled to bring through many young prospects from their academy in recent years, with Paul Dummett being the only regular in recent memory to have come through their youth set-up.
A lack of resources invested in the academy is one of the issues which manager Rafa Benitez is attempting to fix with owner Mike Ashley, with age-group football not a priority for the Sports Direct tycoon during his time in charge.
A significant change in the quality of players coming through the academy will take a long time for Newcastle to achieve, so the club may need to take shortcuts in the coming years to beef up their numbers.
One potential way of doing that is poaching young, someway-developed talent from other clubs, who have far superior youth set-ups.
One of those clubs is Manchester City, who have invested millions and millions into their state-of-the-art academy over the past few years.
That investment is beginning to reap rewards for City as they bring through players like Phil Foden, who is set to be a real star in the near future.
City are however having problems keeping hold of their youngsters with the path to the first-team being so tough at the Etihad, with Brahim Diaz and Jadon Sancho both leaving in recent windows.
The latest youngster to potentially exit the club is winger Rabbi Matondo, who, according to The Sun, has snubbed a new deal at City.
The 18-year-old, who has already been capped by Wales, is a jet-heeled wide man with huge potential, and Newcastle must now launch a raid for his signature.
Bringing in young players like Matondo will help Newcastle revitalise their youth set-up while securing the future of the first-team, with Matondo set for big things in the game.
It is said that there are several Bundesliga clubs chasing his signature, but Newcastle must barge their way to the front of the queue and offer Matondo the chance at Premier League stardom away from the Etihad.
