We all know there has been a purposeful shift toward a younger playing core at Newcastle United this season, just a quick glance at the signings made is enough evidence of that.
But with a range of talent signed from across the continent this summer, there has been some interesting questions raised about how the club navigate opportunities for those coming through their own academy in the coming season.
Preseason has seen many of those players given substantial minutes by Matthias Jaissle, the likes of Mason Miley, Leo Shahar, Henry Johnson and Rory Finneran have featured heavily. But one of the Magpies youngsters who perhaps hasn't had as many minutes as he would have hoped and marks one of the most interesting cases among the current cohort is forward Sean Neave.
Newcastle must find a solution for Sean Neave & quickly
Neave actually began preseason playing a substantial amount under previous manager Eddie Howe, starting both the Bristol City and Gateshead fixtures, but since Jaissle has taken over, Neave has found himself watching from the sidelines more often than not.
He saw just 19 minutes of total game time across the Visit Malta weekender (if that's what it was called) and cut a dejected figure following each of the previous games against Everton and Valencia after not coming on at all.
Despite those disappointments in recent times, it must be said that the forward has genuinely looked sharp, quick and composed whenever he has managed to showcase his talents.
Now I personally believe that Sean Neave has a LOT to offer to the first team squad next season if the route we go down is to keep him around. With two players in each of the frontline positions, having a player like Neave who is able to cover each of those areas should we get down to the bare bones could be crucial.
And if you focus in on the right wing options for example, which is where he came on yesterday against Strasbourg, who's to say that Jacob Murphy and Anthony Elanga don't struggle next season (especially if this preseason is anything to go by) and we need a bit of a different option to provide a little something... why can't that be Neave?
Why a loan move is risky
Of course, many of you reading this will be thinking that a loan move is the obvious answer. Maybe send him on loan to the Championship for a season and see if he can transfer those excellent scoring statistics at youth level to senior football.
And yes, on the surface I agree, that does seem the best route at present.
But, unfortunately, I simply don't trust the club to identify and organise a loan move that will genuinely develop him in the right way to make him an established senior player when he returns.
The past few years have been more than enough of an indicator that those in charge of initiating loans for our youngsters are not capable of doing so to a high level on a regular basis.
Think Garang Kuol, Antonio Cordero even the likes of Henri Saivet if you want to go back that far. All players with potential and pedigree that expected them to go on to become at least decent, but all unable to fulfill that potential after being sent away to places they barely played (although Cordero can of course still turn that stigma around).
So, with a player like Neave who is a local lad and appears to have bags of potential if his development is handled correctly, I'd much prefer he was kept around and given chances in what is already going to be a young, largely unproven squad next season.
Whether that will be the case or not is yet to be seen, but one certainty is that Neave's situation must be clarified sooner rather than later - because another season of no minutes at senior level could be a big problem for his development going forward.
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