Shola Ameobi is to leave his role as loans manager at Newcastle United as the club ponder changes to a department regarded as central to their plan for attracting top talent from across the world.
Ameobi, who played more than 300 first team games for Newcastle, has held the job since 2019 but The i Paper can reveal he is moving into a new ambassadorial role.
It is viewed as a “natural evolution” of the former striker’s position at Newcastle and he remains highly-rated by the club, who want to deploy his leadership qualities across the business.
Ameobi’s new job will be an expanded ambassadorial and corporate role that will combine his current duties with more involvement with the club’s increasing number of commercial and civic partners. The club are to launch the search for a new loans manager shortly.
Why is Ameobi leaving?
The decision for Ameobi to move out of the football department is a mutual one but it is understood that sporting director Ross Wilson will use the changing of the guard at the top of the loans department to hold a “review” about what happens next.
Loans are absolutely critical to Newcastle’s vision for bringing in young talent and developing them – either to play a part in the first team or to sell on as part of a trading strategy that will be critical to coping with financial rules.
Yankuba Minteh’s successful stint at Feyenoord – in which Ameobi played a crucial role – ensured they were able to command a £30m fee for a player they signed from Danish club OB for just £5m.
What else are Newcastle up to?
The Magpies are in the process of expanding their recruitment operation, appointing scouts to cover new markets such as the Balkans as well as increasing their reach across the UK.
The i Paper revealed on Monday that they are bringing in Oxford’s head of recruitment Scott Mitchell to oversee recruitment up to 18 – a move viewed as a coup by those in scouting circles.
But Newcastle need to ensure the talent signed has a pathway – and overseas loans for rising stars Antonio Cordero and Trevan Sanusi have proved difficult this year.
Why so many changes?
Sources have told The i Paper that an initial review of loans back in January didn’t lay the blame for those moves at the door of Ameobi or the department, though.
Newcastle’s six-man loans team is well-resourced and viewed as behind only Chelsea in terms of finance invested. Ameobi has been assisted by fellow former player Peter Ramage – who will remain in his role as assistant loans manager – and a physio, psychologist, sport scientist and data analyst.
The club acknowledge that finding the “right” loan is a huge part of the challenge they face and have worked over the last few years to build relationships with clubs in markets like the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium.
Are Newcastle exploring a multi-club model?
The i Paper understands that the club’s majority owners, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, still retain ambitions of launching a multi-club model, having tasked former director of football Paul Mitchell with identifying possible clubs for purchase.
While those plans have been on the back burner, chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan remains a big fan of the structure and it would not be a surprise if the club stepped up work on that in the next few months.
In the short-term, though, there will be a new figure at the top of the department.
