One of Newcastle United’s new arrivals has suffered a frustrating injury setback after finally joining the club.
The Magpies enjoyed a busy summer, with six senior additions and several departures to give Eddie Howe the best possible chance of being competitive in what is a busy 2025/26 campaign.
Newcastle United broke their transfer record by signing Nick Woltemade for a fee rising to £69m, while the likes of Yoane Wissa and Anthony Elanga also made expensive moves.
While the first team has been improved, Newcastle’s academy saw several young players join throughout the summer transfer window. Talented young stars like Seung-soo Park and Oliver Goodbrand were brought in to improve the U18s and U21s, respectively.
Another arrival was 18-year-old Vakhtang Salia. The striker comes from Georgian side Dinamo Tbilisi, with a deal being agreed in October last year. Salia has officially moved to the North East now that he is 18, but an injury problem has surfaced.
A shot of a corner flag before a Premier League 2 game between Newcastle youth and Manchester United youth.
Photo by Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images
Newcastle United youngster Vakhtang Salia ruled out with injury
There is a lot of excitement about Salia internally. Howe admitted he was impressed with Salia after meeting him at the club’s training ground earlier this year, but it may be a while before the 47-year-old gets to see him in action.
Newcastle had planned to loan Salia out this season, but a new report from Newcastle World has shared that the Georgian is currently suffering from a hamstring injury.
Salia was expected to link up with new U21s head coach Adam Lawrence, but his injury will reportedly leave him out of action until ‘later this year’.
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Thankfully, strikers is not a position that Newcastle are particularly struggling with in the academy; Sean Neave, Ben Parkinson and Joe Brayson are all available for the Young Magpies.
Still, the setback for Salia will surely be frustrating for Lawrence, who will be keen to get all of his players up to speed with the Premier League 2 season already underway.
Vakhtang Salia was one of Paul Mitchell’s only signings at Newcastle United
Former sporting director Paul Mitchell’s time at Newcastle was short-lived, having left just 12 months after joining the club with a great reputation.
The former Monaco and Tottenham chief failed to make any major signings for the Magpies, but he was forced to work through a lot of PSR trouble on Tyneside.
Despite that, he was able to make five signings for Newcastle, with Salia one of them. The youngster is the last player to have officially joined the club, but there are others like Antonio Cordero and William Osula who have joined.
It remains to be seen whether any of these players will be a success. Cordero is out on loan with KVC Westerlo, while Fitzgerald and Turkish youngster Baran Yildiz have impressed for the U18s.
The only signing who has shown a glimmer of success so far is Osula. The striker was part of Newcastle’s Carabao Cup-winning squad and has scored twice in the Premier League.