New signing starts in Tokyo as Toon beat Man Utd, Brighton & Aston Villa to teenage talent

After finalising a move to Newcastle United last week, teenage midfielder CJ Afumuzor is currently in Japan representing our U15s.

In an NUFC Blog exclusive released in June, we revealed that Newcastle had beaten Man Utd, Brighton and Aston Villa to the highly-rated 14-year-old who was considered one of the top category three players during his time with Portsmouth.

A few months on, he is one of a number of Academy talents who flew out to Tokyo this week to pick up their own pre-season preparations ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Alongside the likes of Sam Alabi and Michael Mills - two other exciting youth prospects who signed last summer - CJ started in Tokyo in front of a 1,000 crowd as our U15s took on a Japanese side filled with some of the best youth talents in the J-League.

Both Alabi and Mills have made a big impression since signing last summer from Oldham and Port Vale, showing our Academy - who also recruited the highly-rated Rory Finneran this week - is heading in right direction. Alabi a tall but technically gifted box-to-box midfielder, much like Afumuzor, while Mills a tricky 15-year-old winger. 

A real test for our teenage talents in tough, humid conditions and the scoreline reflected just that. The J-League side came away 7-3 winners, with Mills, Oliver Best and 13-year-old talent Ethan Fullen scoring for the young Mags.

With Lewis Miley emerging last season and this summer's pre-season friendlies featuring promising talents such as Trevan Sanusi and Alfie Harrison, it'll be interesting to see how Afumuzor, Alabi, Mills and many others get on over the coming years.