Newcastle United: 7 Exciting Youth Prospects

3. Mehdi Abeid

Haris Vuckic isn€™t the only young attacking midfielder on Newcastle€™s books; last summer the club snapped up Mehdi Abeid on a free transfer from Lens, a second league club in France. The Tunisian looked very sharp in pre-season last year and some expected him to challenge for the first team at his debut season on Tyneside but that didn€™t quite come together. Surprisingly he wasn€™t even loaned out and spent time around the bench but never really threatened to get any minutes with Pardew preferring the pace of Obertan to see games out. Abeid€™s composure on the ball and ability to drop deep into midfield to help with early phases had some fans calling for him to be played in a holding midfield role as a deep-lying playmaker (a role now intended for Vurnon Anita it would seem). What€™s worrying is that in pre-season this year it looked as though the skill and guile he displayed 12 months previously may have been coached out of him. Although Pardew has stated on numerous occasions his desire to play youth in the early stages of the Europa League, Abeid faces competition from the aforementioned Haris Vuckic so may still be loaned out to a Championship club at some point this season, depending upon injuries. Birmingham are expected to wrap up a loan deal in the next week but that hasn€™t stopped Abeid flying out for Thursday€™s game against S.C. Maritimo. http://youtu.be/1M89_hzCUHw