10 Players You Didn't Know Were On Trial At Newcastle United
Pop stars, internationals and Newcastle's most prolific ever goalscorer.
When you hear the word "trial" in the same sentence as "Newcastle United" your mind can go one of two places. Either you're instantly transported back to the plot of the movie Goal! and the image of young Santiago Munez getting dumped on his backside in a muddy and ferocious kick-about at the training ground, or you roll your eyes and wonder what Nile Ranger's done this time. Like all clubs though, Newcastle's recruitment policy isn't restricted to scouting networks and new managers bringing their mates over with them, there's (probably) a fairly stringent system in place to allow some wayfaring footballers a chance to show what they can do. Bleep test to see what shape they're in, a game of spot to see how good they are with the ball, and one of those rugby scrum simulators to see how well they can push to the front of a busy cocktail bar. This is Newcastle, after all. The recent emergence of Sammy Ameobi, Paul Dummet, Rolando Aarons, Adam Armstrong and Jak Alnwick have shown that the club's coaching staff have got an eye for the talent that's presented to them, but it wasn't always that way. There's been more than a few tidy footballers who've been told they weren't good enough for St James' Park and gone on to prove other wise. And some that um... haven't.