YANKUBA MINTEH will be given a chance to stake a claim for a place in Newcastle United’s first-team squad during this summer’s pre-season programme.

Minteh joined Newcastle from Danish club OB last summer, but was immediately sent on a season-long loan to Dutch side Feyenoord.

His season in the Dutch Eredivisie could hardly have gone any better, with last weekend’s goal in a 3-2 win at NEC Nijmegen making it ten goals in 28 league appearances.

Feyenoord are keen to re-sign Minteh, who also scored in a Champions League win over Celtic, with the Gambia international also having been linked with a number of other clubs on the continent.

However, rather than immediately sending the 19-year-old on another loan move, Howe wants to integrate Minteh into Newcastle’s first-team group during this summer’s pre-season programme with a view to assessing whether or not he is ready to feature in the club’s senior plans for next season.

“The plan at the moment is that he will come back in to us pre-season,” said Howe. “Then we will take it from there.”

Newcastle’s planning for this summer is at an advanced stage, with Howe admitting that in an ideal world, he would like to complete the bulk of the club’s transfer activity at an early stage of the window.

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Targets are being assessed right across the world, with the Magpies boss keen to keep an open mind about the players that are currently being considered.

“I’ve been involved in it long enough now to know that you can have that vision (of making early signings),” said Howe. “But sometimes the vision is miles away from the reality.

“Of course, when you're in my shoes, you want the majority of your squad in place for pre-season so you can begin to work and build your team. That's not always the case.

“In terms of Premier League experience, I don’t think so (that it is desirable). It’s just good players. The best players mixed together to form a team. That's what we're looking for. Wherever they come from is irrelevant to me.”