Newcastle land Thomas Federspiel as Ross Wilson makes first major recruitment move

Newcastle United's bid to widen their scouting network has received a welcome boost heading into 2026.

The club have landed 60-year-old scout Thomas Federspiel, who arrives from Nottingham Forest and reunites with Ross Wilson; our new sporting director who played a key role in his arrival from the City Ground.

Federspiel started his role earlier this week and comes in as a first team and global talent scout for Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia, highlighting Newcastle's focus on tapping into the South American markets over the coming years.

The 60-year-old is vastly experienced, working as a scout at Bundesliga sides such as Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim and Borussia Monchengladbach before joining Nottingham Forest in 2023.

Forest have had some joy shopping in Brazil in recent years, landing star centre-back Murillo from Corinthians in August 2023 for a bargain fee of £15m, along with Jair Cunha and Igor Jesus.

Speaking to the media earlier this week, Wilson spoke openly about the need to expand our recruitment network, hinting at a move away from regular paying Premier League premiums:

“Moving forward, we definitely want to expand our recruitment network. We’ve already done that, to be honest, in my time here. We’ve already expanded the recruitment network. We’ll continue to do so as we move forward.

“I think it’s also clear that we feel that it’s highly likely, not always, but highly likely that there’ll be more value outside of the Premier League than there is in it.

“It’s not always the case, but I think it would be a fair assumption to say that’s something we’ll be looking into.”