Newcastle United focusing on younger players, both in the first-team squad and academy, is a refreshing sight given what we have been used to in the past. But we may soon reach a point where it actually becomes a bit of a problem.
Not because it puts the club in some dire situation to have such a talented cohort of young assets, but because it will eventually begin forcing difficult decisions about who stays and who goes.
That is a nice problem to have in some ways, but in others, it creates a large amount of jeopardy and a dilemma the Magpies have been on the wrong side of more than they'd like recently.
A problem on the horizon
Over the last week, you may have noticed that there has been a rather hefty influx of articles on this site referencing the excellent work done with the academy and the exceptional young talent already making waves in Jaissle's senior set up.
There has been England performances from the likes of Micheal Mills, players making the first-team bench like Vakhtang Salia, and even Premier League masterclasses from more established names like Sean Steur. All of which put the Magpies in the spotlight as having numerous players with exceptional potential.
And, whilst it's probably an understatement to say this is all well and good, if the past is anything to go by, there are some caveats to the situation going forward that we may need to be prepared for.
The situations of the past
Whilst falling under the 'PSR needs' bracket rather than anything else, Newcastle have seen the downside of having young players with limited first-team pathways in recent times, namely Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh.
Anderson, after struggling to nail down a regular starting spot in the senior squad, was ultimately sold to suffice the club's financial co-operation.
What followed was one of the biggest breakouts of a Newcastle academy talent in a very, very long time and an eventual £116m sale to Manchester City that left the Magpies feeling rather glum about their decision to let him go.
Why are Anderson and Minteh relevant?
I mentioned those two were sold under different circumstances to what any young players would be now, but with such a wide breadth of talent playing in black and white, there will inevitably be some players who are sold on.
Of course, we can't forget that this is part of the club's strategy going forward. Both buy and bring talent through the ranks before using those players to either bolster the first-team squad and save money, or sell them on for profit to aide the financial situation.
But the issue comes in deciding who should be used for what purpose. As unflattering as it may sound for the state of modern football, players are merely pawns in the chess match of financial prosperity, and the decisions made about young players mark some of the most difficult.
Keep, sell or loan?
Newcastle United have a tidal wave of talent coming through at all age groups; talent that is being recognised domestically and at the international level. But the club won't be able to keep all of them.
Between top talents from Europe and prospects from their own academy, Newcastle United quickly need to differentiate between young talent and young talent that can genuinely develop into first-team members.
They then need to distinguish between those worth selling and those they simply cannot afford to lose, something that hasn't been a particularly fruitful avenue for the club in the past.
That sentiment also goes for us as fans. Ross Wilson has told us that player trading will be a big part of the new strategy, so we can't allow ourselves to get caught up in the frustration when a player we move on goes on to big things.
The situation the club are currently in certainly isn't a negative. In fact, it is a position the Magpies have not been in for an extended period of time.
But it isn't a situation that should make the club scared of making decisions, it should simply make them much more careful about making sure those decisions are correct before committing to them.
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