Newcastle have confirmed the signing of highly-regarded Ecuadorian teenager Johan Martinez from Independiente del Valle. The 16-year-old will officially join the Magpies following his 18th birthday and will continue with Independiente del Valle in the meantime until the summer of 2027.
It is a transfer very much geared towards the future, yet Newcastle are understood to have seen off competition from the likes of Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen to secure his services. Ross Wilson, Newcastle United‘s sporting director, said: “We’re delighted to beat off serious competition from leading clubs across Europe to bring Johan to Newcastle United.
“Identifying and recruiting promising young players is a key part of how we build for the future, and our scouting and recruitment team have worked diligently to secure Johan’s signature.
“Independiente del Valle have a strong reputation for developing young players and Johan has undoubtedly benefited from that environment.
“He will continue his progress there while we maintain a close connection with his development, and we look forward to welcoming him to Newcastle next year.”
As previously reported by Chronicle Live earlier this month, Thomas Federspiel now serves as Newcastle’s lead talent scout on the ground across South America.
This could be the first of several under-the-radar acquisitions for the Magpies as they seek to strengthen their youth setup with talent from that region.
Federspiel was amongst sporting director Wilson’s initial appointments following his arrival from Nottingham Forest, bringing the City Ground scout along with him.
Discussing the club’s recruitment strategy, Wilson said: “Moving forward, we definitely want to expand our recruitment network. We’ve already done that, to be honest, in my time here. We’ve already expanded the recruitment network. We’ll continue to do so as we move forward.
“I think it’s also clear that we feel that it’s highly likely, not always, but highly likely that there’ll be more value outside of the Premier League than there is in it.”