"Big potential" - Forgotten Newcastle loanee earns high praise from manager

Newcastle United do not have the greatest of records when it comes to developing young talent in the last couple of decades, and our loan system has historically proved to be relatively ineffective.

Yankuba Minteh aside, who enjoyed a successful season at Feyenoord last year, you'd struggle to name a player who has really excelled away from the club and grown to become a first-team player.

There are a handful of youngsters away temporarily at the minute and one of them has very recently earned some high praise despite his side suffering a narrow defeat on Monday afternoon.

Boss 'very happy' with Newcastle man's efforts

Anthony Gordon was Newcastle's star signing in the January window of 2023, but there was another signing made at the same time which many supporters may have forgotten about.

Defender Harrison Ashby was brought in from West Ham for around £3m but is yet to make a competitive appearance for Newcastle and has been sent out on loan for the last two season.

His first spell at Swansea was plagued with injuries meaning he was only able to play 16 times in all competitions, but he has already played 29 times for QPR this season and manager Marc Cifuentes was very complimentary about him after Monday's game.

The 23-year-old, who has been playing at left0back for the last three games, was substituted on the 53rd minute having picked up a yellow card and was visibly frustrated at the change, but Cifuentes praised his personality and drive.

Speaking to London World, Cifuentes said:

“I love Ash’s personality. He’s so straight and honest, he wanted to play, he’s playing at high level the last games, which I’m very happy about him because I think there is a big potential on him as a player.

“He’s playing actually very good on the left side, which we know that naturally he’s more right full back than a left one, but he did really well. Then we felt with a yellow card and having Ken on the bench [the sub made sense].”

Big decision to be made on Ashby's future

It will be very difficult for the former West Ham man to break into our first-team given the recent form of Tino Livramento and Kieran Trippier whose contract at the club will last until the summer of 2026.

At his age, Ashby should really be playing week in week out but he hasn't really shown the quality needed in his two loan spells to warrant a place in the squad any time soon, though his time at QPR has proven to be somewhat beneficial.

We will likely look to cash in on the right-back while we still can this summer potentially making a small profit and aiding our financial position as it's very unlikely he can make an impact in the squad at this point.