The success of Nickson’s work

NEWCASTLE United’s head of recruitment Steve Nickson is a man in demand after it emerged West Ham United are keen on poaching the transfer guru.

- By LEE RYDER Chief Newcastle writer

Nickson has a key role at the Magpies and has become increasingly influential within the club.

He joined Newcastle in 2014 as Under-21 scout but when former boss Rafa Benitez shook things up in the scouting department in 2018, the 61-year-old replaced Graham Carr on Tyneside.

Since then he has been involved in a host of brilliant deals that have benefited the club. Nickson was singled out for praise by co-owner Amanda Staveley after his work helping her and husband Mehrdad Ghoudoussi in the early stages of the PIF tenure.

Staveley said back in 2022: “Mehrdad and I and our PIF colleagues went up to the club and it was a lonely place. Fortunately, we have an amazing head of recruitment in Steve Nickson, who has been with the club for a long time and has a really deep knowledge of the player markets. So we were able to quickly put together a transfer committee.”

With the recruitment chief's exit now looking likely, here is a run-down of Nickson’s success stories.

AYOZE PEREZ

Nickson’s initial brief at Newcastle was to find players that could have sell on potential between the ages of 17 and 21. Well when Nickson spent time flying back and forward to Tenerife to look at a young forward called Perez, those four-and-a-half hour flights proved to be worth-while.

It would be remiss to not mention former managing director Lee Charnley in this deal as he pushed hard to win the race to sign Perez with the likes of Borussia Dortmund and the B teams of Barcelona and Real Madrid keen on the then 20-year-old.