Carlisle United should make Newcastle United pick-up a transfer blueprint: View | OneFootball

Carlisle haven't done enough of these types of deals in the past.

Defensive reinforcements have been front and centre of Carlisle United's early transfer window plans, and one of their latest additions represents the type of move that they should be looking to pull off more often.

The argument that every single piece of the Cumbrians' team needs addressing is a valid one, and something that may be acted upon in due course by Paul Simpson and his team.

So far this summer, Carlisle have added four new faces to their squad; all signings that have defensive reassurance in mind, to varying degrees.

Simpson said, after announcing former Charlton Athletic centre-back Terell Thomas as their latest acquisition, at the time of writing, that there is still one area of the backline that needs to be addressed, presumably on the right-hand side of it where the only current natural option is 20-year-old Jack Ellis.

Three of the four signings that the Blues have made have been defenders, the other was Jude Smith - a goalkeeper who formerly played for Newcastle United and Celtic's youth teams.

The boss had stated his desire to acquire a shot-stopper that was somewhere in the middle of January signing Harry Lewis and academy product Gabe Breeze, as per the News & Star.

Smith's arrival at Brunton Park may allow for Breeze to go elsewhere for the 2024/25 campaign to gain some more first-team experience, but this deal, bringing in a former member of two of the biggest academies in somewhat close proximity to the Blues, is something they xshould look to do more of going forward.

Carlisle must try to take advantage of nearby academy products

One of the reasons why Carlisle's new American owners, the Piataks, bought the club was because of the large catchment area that United have. There isn't another professional team for miles around, meaning that they should have the pick of the talent in the area.

That factor also comes with its drawbacks. Cumbria is a destination without a dense population, so, measuring by miles, they have a large net that they can cast, but it's not as fruitful an area as the size of the net that is needed would suggest.

Plus, any fish that have real potential are often snapped up by the biggest clubs in the north of England, or Scotland. This isn't necessarily because of Carlisle's geography, it's more because of their pull and league standing.

But there are two ways that they can benefit from teams like Newcastle poaching their talent.

Picking up the scraps

Option one: be there at the end of the youth football process to sweep up the best bits of those big youth squads that have been chucked by the wayside.

We're seeing more and more players that get rejected by top-flight clubs at a young age that then develop into good professionals later in life.

Smith could end up being one of those players. Either way, signings like him haven't been made enough by United, but it's good to see that they are now doing it.

Option two: maintain a good relationship with these bigger clubs so that they are more likely to send their best young players on loan to you.

This is an area that Carlisle have really dropped the ball with. One loan move for Elias Sorensen seemingly severely damaged the relationship between the Blues and the Magpies because his parent club weren't happy with how much game time he got.

Whether that was necessarily Carlisle's fault is up for debate, because the striker wasn't good enough to justify playing, but it has meant that United have gone years without reaping the benefits from the youthful talent that is most local to them.

In fact, United's temporary recruitment over the past three seasons has seen as many players join the team from London-based clubs as there have been players joining from all the clubs in the north of England combined.

Elliot Anderson, who is now a regular part of Newcastle's first team, was loaned to Bristol Rovers, who he helped to win promotion, two seasons ago.

Rovers would have had a monetary advantage over Carlisle if they'd both gone for him, but, logistically, it would have been much easier for them to send Anderson an hour down the road rather than to the other end of the country.

Joe White - Carlisle born and bred - was temporarily sent to Crewe Alexandra, in League Two, last season from St James' Park. A clever, neat, attacking midfielder, who would play down the middle of the pitch, was what Simpson's side were screaming out for in League One.

If Carlisle didn't want to bring those two players in, or if they tried to but the deals were negatively affected by finances or lack of trust on Newcastle's end, isn't known. But these are the types of deals that the Blues have to try and do more of.

If there are more Whites in the future, that go from Brunton Park to the black and white of the North East in their younger years, or any other top academy in the North or Scotland, that should help to maintain/improve the harmony between the Cumbrians and these bigger clubs.

There's no guarantee that Smith will be one of those players that teams like the Magpies underestimated, or that all future loan deals between Carlisle and clubs like their Tyneside counterparts will be successful.