LATEST NEWS: Here Is What Yankuba Minteh Said After Deal With Brighton

Yankuba Minteh has hailed his brief spell at Newcastle United as a ‘good thing’ after it helped the forward realise his dream of playing in the Premier League.

Minteh completed a £33m move from Newcastle to Brighton over the weekend – little more than a year after the Gambia international joined the Magpies from Odense. It was one of the most significant sales in Newcastle’s recent history at a time when the black-and-whites were frantically scrambling to raise funds ahead of the PSR deadline.

That was a scenario that few imagined when Newcastle won the race to sign Minteh for just £5.8m last summer after the club put a great deal of work into the deal, including scouting the 19-year-old for several months, researching his background and putting a career plan in place, which included a smart loan move to Feyenoord.

Loans manager Shola Ameobi and assistant Peter Ramage were in regular contact with Minteh – embarking on several scouting missions to the Netherlands – and the youngster was told how Eddie Howe wanted to play and ‘how things are done’ in Newcastle. When Minteh suffered a hamstring injury, back in October, the forward was even flown over to the Magpies’ training ground for assessment, to meet players and staff and to watch the Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund at St James’ Park.