**Newcastle United raided Blackburn Rovers with a deal to sign Rory Finneran in 2024, but that has not been the end of the story.**
Newcastle United have shown a desire to shop around for talented young players since PIF’s takeover.
Travis Hernes arrived from Shrewsbury Town in 2023, while now-Lorient loanee Trevan Sanusi came in from Birmingham City.
Even this past summer, Newcastle signed Antonio Cordero from Malaga and Park Seung-soo from Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
Add in Vakhtang Salia’s arrival from Dinamo Tbilisi, and Newcastle have displayed a real focus on top young talent.
Photo by Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images
One deal in 2024 saw Newcastle raid Blackburn Rovers for teenager Rory Finneran.
Newcastle presented Finneran as a new signing in July 2024, but Blackburn confirmed that a tribunal would be required.
Newcastle and Blackburn could not agree on a compensation fee, meaning an independent tribunal was required.
[The Sun’s Alan Nixon](https://www.patreon.com/posts/newcastle-fury-142597815) now reports that a fee has still not been decided, leaving Blackburn waiting on a price more than a year since losing Finneran.
Nixon even claims that Rovers may seek legal action in order to receive a fee for the teenager.
The time in waiting for a decision may have allowed Newcastle to negotiate a price, but there is still no agreement in place.
Understandably, Rovers are more than frustrated with the situation and may well reach 18 months without being paid for Finneran’s signature.
Finneran doesn’t turn 18 until February, but he actually arrived at Newcastle having already made his first-team debut at Blackburn.
The midfielder has played three times in Premier League 2 this season, scoring once.
Premier League 2 often features players much older than 17, so Finneran is making strides at a very young age.
Finneran has also captained the Republic of Ireland Under-18 while earning six caps.
It’s clear that Finneran has already achieved plenty of important milestones at just 17, and Newcastle have every reason to feel excited about his development.
The path to first-team football at Newcastle is not an easy one, but Finneran certainly has the potential to make an impact – and the Magpies will hope to have this compensation situation sorted sooner rather than later.