Newcastle sign Watford defender Abdulmalik Bamgbola

The left-sided centre-back spent the past three seasons with Watford before making the move to Tyneside, where he will initially join Newcastle United’s Under-16 squad.

Academy chief Steve Harper has made recruitment from other clubs an important part of his strategy as Newcastle attempt to accelerate the development of their youth system.

Bamgbola’s arrival follows the recruitment of several other young players from outside the club, including Kyran Thompson, who joined from Arsenal during the summer, as well as Christian Boothe and Kyle Healy-Matthews.

Newcastle United already have several academy graduates and recruits pushing towards senior football.

Lewis Miley and his younger brother Mason are members of the first-team squad, while centre-back Henry Johnson has also been training with the senior group.

Michael Mills, who joined from Port Vale, was on the bench for the recent match against Hull City, while Vakhatang Salia is another highly regarded member of the club’s Under-18 group.

Harper, who has led the Academy since 2021, believes Newcastle remain behind some of the leading youth operations in English football and need to continue recruiting aggressively to close that gap.

“Some of the ‘superpowers’ have had a 10- or 12-year headstart on us,” Harper told The Athletic.

“We’re in the outside lane, flying down the motorway to catch up, but they’re not pulling into a service station and waiting for us to catch them. In five years, we’ve made massive progress.”

Harper has also explained why Newcastle continue to bring in young players from rival academies.

“If there were players ready now for that opportunity within the academy, we wouldn’t need to sign those players,” he said.

“When we’re paying multiple-million pounds for 20-year-olds, you need to realise the expectations are that you need to be ready earlier. You can’t waste a day.”

The Academy chief believes those recruits can provide valuable competition while Newcastle work to ensure their own younger players are ready when first-team opportunities arrive.

“We work hard to get the boys ready for an opportunity and, when it comes, it’s up to them,” Harper said.

Bamgbola now has the chance to establish himself within that system, with Newcastle hoping the defender can develop into another long-term Academy success story.