Newcastle United are radically changing their youth recruitment policy.
The Toon are now set to focus their youth recruitment on players within a two-mile radius in an effort to discover the next Andy Carroll.
The secretary of the PinPoint Recruitment junior leagues Ian Coates makes the revelation in a new book, 'Up There', which is about Northeast football.
"Newcastle United's recruitment policy has changed as of this year," Coates is quoted as saying.
"They will not recruit any player under the age of 21 from overseas on a scholarship.
"The majority of their players are going to come from within a two-hour radius of Newcastle. They're going back to the old days.
"This is coming from the top. They believe there are technically gifted players within the North East. Steve Nickson is head of their recruitment nationally up to 21, he is adamant about that, as is Lee Charnley, the new managing director."
