Sources: Newcastle United close to agreeing Rice deal as he quits rivals
Southampton transfer guru Dan Rice is headed to Newcastle United after handing in his resignation, sources have told Football Insider.
The Saints’ head of youth recruitment has quit the club for a move after two years at the Premier League club.
Rice has been targeted by Newcastle as part of a huge overhaul of their entire transfer set-up.
He joined Southampton in February 2021 as Under13-Under19 player recruitment manager, before assuming his current position seven months later.
Prior to joining the south-coast outfit, Rice spent eight years working at Fulham before spending two years between 2017-2019 working as an academy player recruitment manager at Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Newcastle are planning to make several more appointments as part of sporting director Dan Ashworth’s ambitious recruitment drive.
Football Insider broke the news earlier this month that the Saudi Arabia-owned club had agreed a deal to hire Paul McLaren from Man City in a head scouting role.
Newcastle have also agreed a deal to hire talent spotter Delroy Ebanks from West Ham.
Ebanks has taken on a newly-created recruitment role in which he becomes the club’s new southern lead scout and will be based down south searching for rising stars for Newcastle.
In addition, Newcastle are expanding their scouting network abroad with up to seven international scouts potentially being appointed.
The club are looking to recruit scouts for France; Germany, Holland and Belgium; Spain and Portugal; Italy, Switzerland and Croatia; Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark and Serbia; Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador as well as Argentina and Uruguay.
The Magpies have been undergoing a revamp since their new owners took over and have enjoyed a successful season under the Saudi group.
Following Eddie Howe’s appointment, Newcastle have gone from hovering around the middle of the table since their promotion in 2016-17, to eyeing up a Champions League spot this year.
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