LAST July, Newcastle United signed 18-year-old Gambian winger Yankuba Minteh from Danish side Odense Boldklub.

When former sporting director Dan Ashworth made the reported £5.8m move, many supporters didn’t know much about the youngster and since then have remained unfamiliar with him after he was sent on loan to Dutch side Feyenoord.

However, with his recent form, the buzz surrounding the forward is beginning to heat up after his impressive run of games.

Minteh’s primary position is as a right winger and with him being left footed, his tendency is to cut inside and look to shoot.

Despite a lack of minutes and no goals or assists in his first four appearances for Feyenoord,  Minteh opened his account off the bench in his fifth game of the season with a goal in the dying stages away at Utrecht. More notably, Minteh then managed to get off the mark in the Champions League away at Celtic which began to attract more attention from Newcastle United fans.

Since then, Minteh has registered an impressive nine goals and four assists in just 14 starts and with Newcastle fans crying out for a right winger, they may just be beginning to think they already have one on their books.

In comparison to other 19-year-old wingers in Europe's top leagues, Minteh tops the charts for most goals, assists, dribbles, crosses and shots, which could prove to be beneficial for Newcastle who look for a right-sided, direct winger to pair up with Anthony Gordon on the opposite side.

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Feyenoord manager Arne Slot has praised Minteh for his ‘self-confidence’ as well as his ‘willingness to give everything’ which ticks boxes for Newcastle fans who always take a likening to those who work hard.

Slot also described Minteh as ‘incredibly fast’ which many would describe as an important attribute for a winger. Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe also had high plaudits for the youngster saying he had ‘started well’ and he is ‘really, really pleased.’ 

One piece of news Newcastle fans will want to hear is that Minteh has only had one significant injury in his career which only sidelined him for a month and other than that he has remained fit throughout. With Newcastle leading the table for most minutes missed through injury, it’ll be nice to hear that the Gambian has no prior history with any bad injuries.

However, Minteh’s future next season is still up in the air as it is undecided if he will be loaned back out next season or if he will fight for a place in the Magpies' team.

In a recent interview after Feyenoord's 6-0 win over Dutch giants Ajax, Minteh spoke to ESPN saying: "My focus is here. I am a Newcastle player but right now I play for Feyenoord." He also discussed the fact it ‘depends on Newcastle United’s decision.’

With just five games left of the league season for Feyenoord, the remaining games offer a chance to Minteh to prove to Howe and his staff what he can bring to Newcastle.