Newcastle sign Abdulmalik Bamgbola from Watford
Newcastle United have continued their recruitment of some of the best young talent in the country with another exciting addition to the Academy.
The club have completed the signing of young centre-back Abdulmalik Bamgbola from Watford.
Bamgbola joins in-form Under-15s
Bamgbola has spent the past three seasons in Watford’s academy, attracting interest from Newcastle scouts who continue to scour the country for some of the best domestic talent.
The young centre-back is a left-sided defender and arrives on Tyneside with big potential, with Newcastle beating a number of Premier League sides to his signature.
He will initially link up with Newcastle’s Under-15s, adding another promising defender to an age group which has enjoyed a remarkable spell of success.
As we’ve revealed previously on NUFC Blog, the Under-15s have been making a serious name for themselves, winning the Premier League U15 International Tournament after beating Chelsea in the semi-finals before defeating Manchester City 1-0 in the final at Cobham.
They then backed that up by travelling to Rotterdam and winning the Orange Veins Cup, beating Paris Saint-Germain on penalties in the final after a 1-1 draw.
Two major tournament wins against some of the biggest academies in Europe in the space of just a couple of weeks shows the level of talent coming through this age group and the progress being made within Newcastle’s Academy; which has come on leaps and bounds in the last five years.
Academy pathway shown by Kouossu
Bamgbola will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow Toon talent Jayden Kouossu, who has gone from strength to strength since arriving from a Championship academy.
The 16-year-old England youth international joined Newcastle from West Brom in 2024 and is now one of several top talents making rapid progress through the Academy.
Like Bamgbola, he initially linked up with the Under-15s two years ago before progressing through the age groups and earning opportunities much higher up the club.
Kouossu has recently trained with the first team and started for the Under-21s in the EFL Trophy last night, showing exactly what can be achieved when young players make the most of their opportunities.
Bamgbola will now be hoping to take the first steps on a similar pathway, joining an Under-15 group that has already shown it can compete with — and beat — some of the best young sides in Europe.
