Exciting January signing turning heads on Tyneside - The next big thing at Newcastle?

by TomTalksToon · 19 March 2024, 19:05

Due to Mike Ashley's significant underinvestment into the club, Newcastle United's academy has been an area in which the new ownership has needed to put serious money into. In January we saw yet another example of this, when the club struck an initial deal with Manchester City for around one million euros (rising to three-and-a-half million pounds) to secure the services of eighteen year-old Alfie Harrison.

Harrison signed a two-and-a-half contract, with the club having an option to extend it by another year. This clearly highlights how the club believe he has a strong chance of progressing into the first-team in the short-term future.

The youngster is a left-footed midfielder who is really well suited to Newcastle's left-sided "8" position; the one which recently, due to injuries, Sean Longstaff has been playing. He is great at contributing to goals, and bringing his team up the pitch with his progressive play. What is so great about him is that he fills a gap in our squad: ball-striking midfielders.

Harrison has nine goals and four assists in just nine matches so far in the U18 Premier League. He has also made three appearances in the "Premier League 2" (the U21 Premier League). From these games we can see some key strengths to his game:

BALL STRIKING AND SHOT SELECTION:

Harrison loves arriving in the left half-space and using his laces to drive the ball low and hard across-goal into the bottom-right corner. He does this often and has almost mastered this technique; scoring lots of his goals through this. It is important to also note his versatility in finishes. He likes to use toe-punts when in tight spaces to get his shots off early; a technique which is underused in my opinion. He also has great composure; being also capable of gentle and precise side-foot finishes. A typical Harrison finish:

"TECHNICAL EMPATHY" AND PASS SELECTION:

To briefly define "technical empathy", it's a relatively new term in the scouting world to describe how his actions can be received by his teammates. For example, how you weight your pass so that your teammate can best receive the ball, whether it be for a first-time strike or so they can receive it on their stronger foot etc. Harrison is great at weighting his passes for his teammates so that they can best complete their actions. He understands game-state well and when the opposition is vulnerable he plays the ball quickly in order to hurt them. As seen with this first-time ball on the counter:

PROGRESSION:

One thing I love about Alfie Harrison is how he always puts moving up the pitch first. He loves driving forward with the ball and making powerful off-the-ball runs which provide threat in attack. He can quickly switch the ball on the counter. This can be seen in the following sequence where he takes the ball, plays a one-two with his teammate while driving into space, then he pings a perfectly weighted ball over to the right. In around 3/4 seconds he's taken his team from behind the half-way line to the edge of the box:

STEP COUNT AND STRIDES:

This one is important in general for footballers, but especially for players who play in tight areas like Alfie Harrison. In tight spaces he can take lots of touches in such a small time; meaning he can manipulate the ball very well, making it difficult for opposition defenders to tackle him.

He is also good at making big strides too, and is a powerful runner on the counter. This ability to change step count is massive as it shows he can do a bit of both: cover ground quickly in transition, and also be an awful player to defend against.

LONG LEGS:

Alfie Harrison has quite lanky legs which allow him to make more tackles and interceptions. Long legs also allow you to protect the ball better. Both of these are fantastic traits for a midfielder playing in a team that faces transitions often like Newcastle, and also enjoy good possession and face lower-blocks.

CONFIDENCE:

One thing I love about what I've seen of him, is that he always wants and demands the ball in all game-states. This is something that is important and highlights his belief in his own abilities; he knows he's good. This is something he can hopefully take with himself up to the first-team.

Despite all these positive aspects, there are a couple notable weaknesses to his game.

ONE FOOTED:

Alfie Harrison is very left footed. Despite this, he can use his right-foot when through on goal, and has done so already this season, netting from his weaker-foot. This isn't the end of the world, but being more comfortable with your weaker-foot can only be a positive thing that would benefit him.

UPPER BODY STRENGTH:

Despite being able to ride challenges, I think he'd benefit from some extra muscle to take him to the next level. He is quite lean and gaining this muscle would allow him to bounce off opposition players; elevating him in duels both offensively and defensively.

HIS FUTURE:

Overall, Alfie Harrison is a very exciting talent. He has his limits, and I don't think he has a "world-class" ceiling that maybe other academy talents do, but I think his profile as a ball-striking/goal-contributing midfielder could be incredibly beneficial to this current Newcastle United squad.

I believe he will be involved in the 24/25 preseason, alongside a few other academy players such as Hernes, Murphy and Sanusi. It will be difficult for him due to the high level of competition, but I think with potential injuries and European qualification, lots of rotation can be expected and he has a chance to be involved and play his part as early as next season.