Newcastle United were favourites to sign Fleetwood Town goalkeeper Stephen McMullan – but now Chelsea want him.
That’s according to The Sun, who claim that Chelsea and Aston Villa have joined the race to sign McMullan.
The report notes that Newcastle were favourites to sign McMullan in March having spotted his potential.
Newcastle may well still be leading the race but they are now in danger of being hijacked.
It’s suggested that Chelsea and Villa could launch moves for McMullan at the end of the season.
That means Newcastle are in danger of missing out on McMullan, who is emerging as a promising prospect for Fleetwood.
Newcastle will hope to beat Chelsea to Stephen McMullan
Newcastle have been placing a firm focus on their youth recruitment in recent times.
The likes of Jude Smith, Alex Murphy, Jordan Hackett and Amadou Diallo joined the club last summer.
Newcastle are looking to bring in top young talent and McMullan may well fit the bill.
McMullan emerged in the Warrenpoint ranks over in Northern Ireland and made 10 first-team appearances for the club.
Fleetwood secured McMullan to a two-year deal last summer but then gave him a new long-term deal in January.
The Cod Army clearly think highly of McMullan and he made his League One debut against MK Dons last weekend.
The 18-year-old could give Newcastle a future replacement for Nick Pope as their first-choice goalkeeper.
Pope isn’t exactly ancient at 31 but having a succession plan in mind isn’t the worst idea in the world.
That’s a long way down the line but with Chelsea now joining the race, Newcastle may need to go all out for the teenager.
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