Eddie Howe was eager to sign a new winger at the end of last season but would have liked to take a closer look at Gambia international only to be told he would have to be sold in June – now the former winger is about to play his first game at St James’ Park in Brighton colours.
Yankuba Minteh’s bags were packed for his first big day at Newcastle United back in June. But as the PSR health check deadline was rapidly approaching in late June, those plans suddenly changed as business logic overtook football logic.
Minteh, still just 20, had just played out a wonderful season in Holland on loan to Feyenoord. Don’t forget, Newcastle weren’t just keen to look at him in the summer, Eddie Howe had already looked into recalling him back in January amid the club’s injury crisis. After hitting double figures in the Dutch top-flight it was clear that Minteh could handle life at senior level.
The man who made the journey from Newcastle to Rotterdam to watch Minteh last season in Shola Ameobi, the club’s loan co-ordinator, had said at the end of last term to Chronicle Live: “We are so excited about what he brings. It will all depend on whether Eddie thinks he is ready for us right now, but we know we have a talent and we are going make sure we keep that journey going.”
Having signed from Odense for £5.8m, United’s backroom staff believed they’d signed an absolute bargain. Minteh had returned to the club’s Benton HQ last Christmas for an assessment following a knock.
It gave the backroom team to have a mini review of the season so far for Minteh and it was deemed that he fit Newcastle’s “athletic profile” perfectly. A fee would have been applicable to Newcastle for an early recall and with Feyenoord on for the title in Holland it was decided he would benefit from finishing off his loan with pre-season deemed the perfect window for opportunity.
His agent Bakary Bojang has spoken of Minteh’s plans to stay at Newcastle and he was looking forward to pre-season. But then the PSR nightmare erupted at Newcastle and he was one of many players that could have been sold.
Sean Longstaff backed this up on August 7 when he said: “We’re not stupid, we’d seen all the stuff with financial fair play and who was on the table and who wasn’t on the table and stuff. I think at that point, the way it seemed, I think everyone sort of had their price.”
Minteh made it clear he didn’t want to be sold but with even Anthony Gordon throwing into the equation at one point, nobody was safe from being sold. In the end, it was accepted that Minteh’s best bet was to leave or face a stint in the reserves at Newcastle.
At first sources close to the deal suggested that Brighton could not believe Newcastle were willing to sell Minteh for £33million. Backroomers at the Seagulls felt that his statistics were “off the scale”.
Speaking about his experiences at Newcastle, Minteh said: “It is always a great thing to move to a Premier League club – although I did not play any games there. It was a good thing for me. Look where I am now, I am at a new club. Now I know I have my chance in the Premier League. I scored 10 goals last season with Feyenoord now I want to score 20.”
Minteh heads back to Tyneside with his first goal already in the bag for Brighton after netting in the 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur before the international break. There will be a warm welcome for Minteh by club staff and Howe himself.
Howe stated back in July that he was gutted to lose both Minteh and Elliot Anderson, who headed to Nottingham Forest. The head coach said: “PSR was tight, it was very late. Very sad to lose Yankuba Minteh and Elliot, two outstanding young players.
“I would loved to have kept them, two outstanding players, really disappointed to lose them both but I think we were backed into a corner. We were in a very difficult position.”
And so those plans for Minteh, who would have been ideal for the right wing slot at Newcastle, were reluctantly torn up. A taste of what might have been could be around the corner for Newcastle but the PSR lesson has already been learned the hard way, as Howe admitted back in July.