Newcastle United Goalscorers Charlie McArthur (L) and Ben Parkinson (R) embrace at full time
Newcastle United Goalscorers Charlie McArthur (L) and Ben Parkinson (R) embrace at full time
As Newcastle United ponder how to, or whether they even can, replace Callum Wilson following his latest injury setback, Eddie Howe has been paying close attention to young striker Ben Parkinson in the club's under-21 setup.
The attacker, 19, is no stranger to the Newcastle boss or senior players after 14 matchday squad appearances for the first-team during the Magpies' injury-hit 2023/24 campaign. This term, Parkinson has been restricted to under-21 appearances only but is beginning to show real improvement - especially in front of goal.
Howe was in the stands as Newcastle's youngsters beat Chelsea on Monday evening, in a game dominated by Sven Botman's return to action. Parkinson should really have stolen the headlines after scoring two goals himself.
That's now eight strikes in 13 appearances, in all competitions, for the pacey forward, who is just two goals behind Premier League 2 top scorer Jemiah Umolu of Crystal Palace. Whether Parkinson is now ready for first-team action remains unclear but he is certainly on the right path as Newcastle look to their youth ranks in a bid to save millions in transfer fees amidst their ongoing PSR battle.
“I keep saying the same thing about January, I wouldn’t expect us to be in a position to be too active in the market as we currently stand," Howe said earlier this month as Wilson was ruled out for two months. "Things can change, if we trade players that is of course different but if you don’t trade players I’ll expect us to be fine.”
For now it will be William Osula playing backup to Alexander Isak in Wilson's absence but Parkinson is knocking on the door for senior selection once again 12 months after being thrust into Howe's plans due to unwanted injuries.
Until the Newcastle boss calls upon his services once more, Parkinson will remain a key figure for Diarmuid O'Carroll's under-21 side as they look to build on five wins in six league games.
"Since Diarmuid has come in, something he has tried to instil in us is that we're never down, never out, and always willing to fight until the end," Parkinson said earlier this season. "I think we may have struggled with that last season, closing out games and picking up points when it mattered, but I think there's something about the lads this year which is really exciting and managing to win our last three games has been really good."