Park Seung-soo impressing Newcastle boss after behind the scenes work

South Korean winger Park Seung-soo caught the attention of Newcastle United fans immediately following his signing from Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the summer.

In what was probably just a PR stunt by the club, Park Seung-soo was handed his first-team debut almost immediately in pre-season as the Magpies played a couple of friendlies in Korea.

However, what may have just been a clever ploy to attract Korean fans to the games actually turned heads as the youngster looked excellent. He had pace, trickery and was not afraid to run at the defence.

There were calls from the Toon Army to throw him straight into the first team for the season ahead, and while he did appear on the bench a couple of times, he's still waiting for his competitive debut.

Park Seung-soo is finding his form

Instead, Park has been plugging away in the Under 21s, where it took him a bit of time to really get going, but since Robbie Stockdale took over from Adam Lawrence in the new year, the Korean has found himself in the team more often and looking much better for it.

The 19-year-old has racked up two goals and four assists, most of which have all come under Stockdale in 2026, and the Under 21s lead coach was singing the praises of his winger to The Chronicle after the draw with Wolves on Monday.

“It’s the demands of the position he plays. We are constantly on him, as we do with other wide forwards, over the job they have to do in and out of possession.

“He’s got genuine quality. He has an ability to stop defenders and move them again, it’s really hard to defend.

“He can go on the outside, he can go on the inside. When we get these players at the start of the season, it’s not where they are then, it’s where we get them to and I think he’s in a good position.

“We show him plenty of clips of the elite doing it, our first-team players doing it, and if they are going to play at the level they have to do the work at the top end of the pitch but also do the work at the bottom end as well.”

Robbie Stockdale has the Under-21s purring

We expect we'll see plenty of Park Seung-soo in pre-season as Eddie Howe likes to have a closer look at those youngsters who are performing well.

Newcastle really need to bring through a strong crop of homegrown/club-grown players to buff out their squad for European competitions. Although that may not be so important next season, unless there's a dramatic turnaround in form in the final six games.

The Under 21s seem to be thriving under Stockdale, with Sean Neave also finding his golden touch again. It's good to see the young'uns getting their confidence back.