Newcastle United youth captain becomes Bristol Rovers’ deadline day signing

Bristol Rovers made the deadline day signing of Newcastle United midfielder Elliot Anderson.

The 19-year-old joins the Gas on a loan deal until the end of the season, concluding the clubs transfer business for the winter transfer window.

Anderson was captain of Newcastle’s U18s side and is an attacking midfielder which is one of the two positions that Joey Barton wanted to strengthen in.

The move is even more impressive given two weeks ago a deal with Championship outfit Luton Town was agreed two weeks ago.

In a short tweet after Rovers confirmed his arrival, he tweeted: “Happy to join @Official_BRFC Can’t wait to get started!”

He has two senior appearances to his name having featured twice against Arsenal in both the FA Cup and in the Premier League last season for Steve Bruce.

Despite not playing for the first-team for over a year he had continued to train with the senior team and was named as a substitute against Watford and Wolverhampton Wanderers this season.

Eddie Howe’s coaching team think highly of the player and from the early promise he has shown on the training ground, he has been tipped for a positive future.

“He’s certainly a bright talent from what we’ve seen on the training ground. He’s got very good potential,” said assistant manager Jason Tindall.

“We’re very fortunate here, at this football club, to have some very, very good attacking players. There’s a lot of competition in the attacking areas.

“So far, what we’ve seen with Elliot, is that he’s shown really good signs for the future.”

The deal had emerged because of the positive relationship between Barton and one of his former clubs from his playing career.

Shola Ameobi is the loan manager at the Magpies and Barton played with the cult hero during his four years at St James Park.

The Premier League outfit believe that a move to the Memorial Stadium playing under the former midfielder will be the right development at this moment in time.

This season Rovers have had some success from taking younger players from clubs from a higher tier with Stoke City’s Connor Taylor excelling in defence, becoming a contender for the Player of the Year.

Fellow centre-back James Connolly has also had a positive start to life in Bristol after joining from Cardiff City earlier this month having been a target in the summer.