Last week, Newcastle United announced the arrival of youngster Kyle Fitzgerald from Galway United, who has ‘that little bit of X-Factor’.
Few people inside Mariners Park were familiar with the name of mystery Trialist A on the squad sheet, but a few onlookers did not need to be introduced to Kyle Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s proud family was among those in the stands, having flown over from Ireland to watch the winger play for Newcastle United’s under-21s against South Shields last summer.
Fitzgerald finally completed his move from Galway United a few months later, following a successful trial, so what about the 18-year-old piqued Newcastle’s interest to begin with? Former teammate Conor O’Keefe, who also coached Fitzgerald at Galway United’s academy, stated that the teenager is capable of passing ‘two or three people and putting the ball in the back of the net’.
“Kyle has that little bit of X-Factor to unlock a defence,” he told ChronicleLive. “It’s difficult to find players who can beat a player one-on-one and produce some magic. “He definitely has that.”
“They were talking about Kyle going to Newcastle for more than a year,” he told ChronicleLive. “I’d say a year-and-a-half.”
Newcastle’s tenacity certainly paid off. Fitzgerald spoke with a number of ‘other big teams’, but the 18-year-old didn’t have to look far to find a route at Newcastle. After all, Alex Murphy, who attended the same secondary school at Claregalway College, has had the opportunity to practice with the first team, be a member of the matchday squad, and even make a few competitive appearances since his departure from Galway United in 2022.
Fitzgerald, like Murphy, has represented Ireland at the youth level, having played for the under-17, under-16, and under-15 teams. Fitzgerald has been able to impress scouts against international opponents at this point, according to Glynn, a former Newcastle trialist.
“When you’re playing international football and because he’s an attacking player, when he gets on the ball, he’s one of those players who excites spectators,” according to him. “You can tell there is something about him.
“Because he was so good on the ball, he would play down either wing. We used to play him a lot inside as a 10, to help him improve his game. He took to that really naturally. He’s a really intelligent footballer. He makes the proper decisions swiftly. He is athletic. He’s very lean and has a lot of room for growth physically.
“The most noticeable difference is the transition from part-time to full-time work. You need to have a lot of mental strength and he will gain even more now in the new environment, but it might take time.”
However, Premier League clubs are willing to give Fitzgerald time for a reason. While the senior Irish national team has struggled, something is happening across the ocean.
Spurs, for example, have already agreed to pay an initial £1.6 million to sign St Patrick’s Athletic striker Mason Melia, setting a League of Ireland club record even before the add-ons are included. Shamrock Rovers wonderkid Michael Noonan, meanwhile, is already being watched by a number of English clubs after becoming the youngest goal scorer in contemporary European tournaments at the age of 16 last week.
This will come as no surprise to Newcastle, who have been keeping a close eye on the League of Ireland, especially since new Brexit restrictions were implemented. These laws have altered how Premier League clubs recruit, making it much more difficult to attract young players from continental Europe and abroad, and this has had an impact on Irish prospects, who must be at least 18 to transfer to England.
Instead of leaving at 16, like in the past, Fitzgerald has had the advantage of seeing men’s football at home before joining Newcastle as a more well-rounded figure after finishing his schooling at home. There are still significant challenges to overcome – young players must adjust to training an extra two or three days a week and living away from home for the first time – but Glynn noted that the’mature’ Fitzgerald has traveled extensively with Irish squads over the years and ‘took to that very naturally’. O’Keefe, too, has urged his former teammate to adapt from his prior experience with Galway United’s first team, as the child adjusts to his new life living with a host family in Tyneside.
“When you play up in age group, you have got to mature quicker as a younger player,” O’Keefe mentioned. “When a younger player goes up and trains with the first team, they are surrounded by grown men, so they have to be more mature and attempt to carry that down to the academy level when they return to play with the academy.
“When he returned to the academy level, you could see signs of maturity in his game as he played with players his own age. The fact that he had practiced with the first team was rubbing off on him a little more.
“All young players still have a lot of room to improve. Their mentality may be influenced by their game experience, so ideally he will continue to grow and improve as a player both on the field and in his mind.”
