00:00Newcastle United have finally announced their first major summer signing. Anthony Alanga has
00:05joined £55 million from Nottingham Forest. I mean, he was here on Tuesday, he's done his medical on
00:12Wednesday, agreed a deal on Wednesday as well. It's now Friday evening, eight o'clock on Friday
00:18evening, Newcastle finally announced the transfer. In fact, they made us wait, wait, wait some more
00:25and then they announced a set-piece coach signing, arrival, sorry. Then they announced at eight
00:30o'clock on Friday night the arrival of Anthony Alanga. Many different reasons why that was the
00:36case, I won't bore you with, but obviously a Friday night I'm in town, so St. James's Park behind me.
00:43Benefits of a city centre location ground. So yeah, just wanted to do a quick video on the signing of
00:50Anthony Alanga. I think it's a very good signing, it's a lot of money. Of course, everyone's
00:54made a big deal of the transfer fee, I guess, but is that not the going rate for a 23-year-old
01:00Premier League proven winger who's really, he's both footed, he's got his best years ahead of him
01:06as well and he's playing for a club who have certainly punched above the weight in recent
01:10seasons in Nottingham Forest. He was a big reason why they finished seventh, were in and around the
01:15Champions League places for the majority of last season. One of the best wingers in the Premier
01:20League, the right wing anyway, in that position. So yeah, be looking forward to seeing him
01:26at St. James's Park, light up St. James's Park in black and white this time, because he's
01:30certainly impressed against Newcastle for Nottingham Forest, being a thorn in Dan Burnside,
01:35certainly. Sven Botman too. But now to get that signing, Newcastle's top target in through
01:42the door, on the right wing, bolster an area that just has been, has just not been strengthened for
01:48years really. It's actually got weaker with the sale of Miguel Almiron in January. Jacob Murphy,
01:54no disrespect to him, he's more than stepped up, he's been brilliant, he's done better numbers than
01:59Anthony Ilanga even. And to be honest, Anthony Ilanga doesn't necessarily walk into Newcastle's team,
02:05but what it does give is natural competition. Someone who will ideally only get better and
02:10really push Jacob Murphy in that first team position in the right wing and ideally come in
02:16and be Newcastle's starting right winger for years to come. He's got a very high ceiling,
02:21Anthony Ilanga, very highly rated by Eddie Howe. And look, you don't know what the future holds,
02:27but I think it's a very exciting signing and we'll look forward to seeing Anthony Ilanga
02:31at St James' Park next season. It's the first player through the door, won't be the last. Newcastle's
02:36still working on a lot of deals. It's still very early in the transfer window really when you think
02:40about it. We've had to wait a long time for this signing. It feels like a long time, but Newcastle
02:46only returned for pre-season training this week. So all in all, they haven't kicked a ball in pre-season
02:52in terms of a friendly game or even a behind closed doors friendly. So Anthony Ilanga in the grand
02:58scheme of things is a fairly early signing. He's going to get a full pre-season more or less under his belt
03:03at Newcastle, which only bodes well for new signings. And then hopefully we'll see some movement in the
03:09goalkeeper department, centre-back, striker as well. And there's been rumblings and maybe a midfielder.
03:14See what happens with Sean Longstaff first, but all in all, first one through the door, finally announced
03:20by Newcastle United. And hopefully there's more to come. You can see my reaction and also my report
03:27on the signing of Anthony Ilanga over on the shieldsgazette.com and all of the fallout
03:31potentially new surrounding new signings over on the Shields Gazette too. So thanks for
03:36watching. See you later.
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