Newcastle might have the perfect Schar heir in "exciting" teen prospect

Newcastle might have the perfect Schar heir in “exciting” teen prospect

Last season, Newcastle United’s defence was one of the strongest in the Premier League. The Magpies were joint top with Manchester City for the least number of goals conceded in England’s top flight (33).

This was no doubt thanks to the likes of Sven Botman and Fabian Schar in helping to solidify Eddie Howe’s defensive line, forming the foundation of the club’s push for Champions League qualification.

Schar, in particular, notably went “under the radar” for his fine displays alongside the Dutchman – in the words of pundit Harry Redknapp – having looked like a man reborn under Howe’s watch at St James’ Park.

However, this season, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse and Howe’s men currently find themselves in seventh – albeit with the experienced centre-back helping his side to a valuable 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

A particular issue has been the lack of depth at the heart of the defence outside of Schar and Botman, with club captain Jamaal Lascelles having been notably linked with an exit during the January transfer window, after falling down the pecking order in recent years.

With no new faces brought in last month to bolster the backline, Howe must look toward the academy ranks if he is to find a suitable understudy for his star pairing…

Fabian Schar’s season in numbers so far

The Switzerland centre-back has plied his trade on Tyneside since he joined the club in 2018 for a fee worth around £3m.

The now 32-year-old has had yet another solid season for the Magpies as he has managed to play a total of 33 games in all competitions whilst contributing four goals to his team.

According to Sofascore, in England’s top flight alone, the 32-year-old has been involved with six clean sheets and has averaged 1.2 tackles per game.

When comparing Schar’s stats to that of Virgil van Dijk’s, for instance, it really puts into perspective how well the Newcastle man has performed of late.

Van Dijk himself only has one additional clean sheet in the Premier League but, not only that, he averages the same amount of tackles (1.2) as his Swiss counterpart – once again reinforcing just what a bargain signing the latter man was.

Despite Schar’s performances across the season, due to his age there will likely be concern over his ability to be a long-term fixture at St James’ Park, hence the need to soon line up a suitable replacement.

With the aforementioned Lascelles also into his 30’s, one player who could instead be Schar’s so-called ‘heir’ is academy star, Cathal Heffernan – the youngster joining from the AC Milan youth setup in the summer of 2023 for an unknown fee.

How Cathal Heffernan compares to Schar

Although Heffernan is yet to make his senior debut for the northeast side, the promising Irishman has played a rather important role in their youth squad since joining.

So far, he has played 15 games for Newcastle’s Under-21’s and has scored two goals, with one of them even coming against his former club, Milan, in the UEFA Youth League.

Described as “very exciting” by journalist Thomas Hammond, before officially joining the club in the summer he had already featured in a few of Newcastle Under-21’s pre-season friendlies at the time.

Before previously making the move to San Siro, the 18-year-old did even make his senior debut for his boyhood club, Cork City. He has also been heavily featured in Ireland’s youth setup, making 19 appearances thus far.

If Heffernan’s development continues as strongly as it has done over the past year or so, it may not be too long before the youngster is lining up in the senior ranks for the Magpies.