Newcastle United agree deal despite "big play" from Blackburn Rovers | OneFootball

The Magpies have been chasing this agreement for a while.

Newcastle United have agreed a deal to sign Blackburn Rovers teenager Rory Finneran.

The 2008-born Irish midfielder is set to join the Magpies, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, after choosing not to accept the Lancashire side's offer of a scholarship deal. The Lancashire Telegraph said that they made a "big play" to try and keep him.

Finneran didn't appear on Blackburn's list of youth team players that had accepted a two-year offer from Rovers, and the long-standing expectation was that he was going to move to the North East.

The Northern Echo reported at the start of the month that Eddie Howe's side's confidence in being able to poach the 16-year-old from Ewood Park, amid other offers that have come in from other teams since he turned 16, was growing.

They had been pushing very hard to get Finneran, who made his professional debut for Blackburn in the FA Cup against Cambridge United, in January. The Echo stated that those at St James' Park felt that getting the talented teen would be: "a major coup for Newcastle’s academy set-up."

He is the captain of the Republic of Ireland's under-17s side, and is now set to become part of Newcastle's esteemed youth system.

Rory Finneran set to leave Blackburn for Newcastle

The path of gifted footballers going from Ewood to St James' is a well-trodden one. Fans of the Magpies could only dream about Finneran, who Romano has said is going to join the club, doing as much in a black and white striped shirt as a certain former Rover by the name of Alan Shearer.

The Italian journalist has said that there is a verbal agreement in place between the two parties.

Blackburn have managed to hold on to at least some of their top talents this summer, despite Finneran's imminent departure.

Despite interest from Premier League teams, Igor Tyjon committed his future to the club when he accepted their offer of a two-year scholarship deal.

Tyjon has featured a lot in pre-season for Rovers. He played 77 minutes against Morecambe on Friday, and also played the majority of the second half against Nurnberg on the Saturday before the match against the Shrimps.

Blackburn should take pride in top flight interest in their young talents

It's very hard to have an academy system that is consistently producing top talents, but that's the stage that Blackburn are at right now.

Once Finneran's move to Newcastle is confirmed, they will have lost two of their up-and-coming youths to Premier League clubs this year: the Irishman and Adam Wharton.

What will be more unfortunate for Rovers in the case of the 16-year-old is that they won't receive a fee for a player of his potential, but they did at least get £18 million, which could rise to £22 million, according to Alan Nixon, from Crystal Palace for Wharton in January.

The Palace midfielder has gone on to prove his quality since moving to the top flight - his selection to the England squad for Euro 2024 and the reported interest that he has received from teams such as Bayern Munich display how highly regarded he is at the highest level of the game.

The priority for the club, as a whole, will be to drag themselves away from the relegation battle that they were in last season.

If they can continue to produce these Premier League level talents, whether they positively affect the first team for a long time or are bought by another club for big money, then they will be in a much better position to secure their Championship status, and even push on further.