Loan star Watts excited to work with Howe after penning new deal

So far only one of his 104 senior matches has come in the colours of the Magpies' first team, but four loan spells have given him invaluable experience and his performances for League One title-challengers Wigan Athletic this term have clearly caught the eye of head coach Eddie Howe.

In July 2020, the youngster made his top-flight bow as a substitute against Liverpool at St. James' Park, acquitting himself well against Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino, but he has spent the past two seasons playing at grounds like Gillingham's Priestfield and Cheltenham's Jonny-Rocks Stadium. However Watts has relished every moment, even if the longer term aim is to once more pit himself against - and indeed play alongside - some of the best players in the world with Newcastle.

"Getting my Premier League debut was the first taste of it, then once I'd had that I knew that the right thing to do was to go out on loan and play more games, and be better for it," Alnwick-born Watts told nufc.co.uk after agreeing the new two-year deal with the club he first joined as an eight-year-old.

"That's what I have done and hopefully I can come back after these loan spells and step up again, impress the new manager and do well that way."

Watts, who started out as a forward at the Little Benton Academy before latterly establishing himself as a cultured left-footed centre-back, made his professional debut in League Two for Stevenage in a 0-0 draw with Leyton Orient in August 2019 and added a further 19 appearances for the Hertfordshire side before spending the second half of the 2019/20 season in the same division with Mansfield.

That spell saw him score his first career goal, against Orient in February 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic saw the Stags' season cut short - but gave him the opportunity to make his Magpies debut on the final day of the campaign, with the unique circumstances meaning he was given dispensation to play for his parent club despite already representing two teams in that strangest of seasons.

For the following year, he joined Ryan Lowe's Plymouth Argyle on a season-long loan. Home Park is just the 400 or so miles away from Newcastle, but the move saw Watts test himself for the first time in League One and the former England under-19 international explained: "It was a great experience. I had a manager who trusted me, which is important when you go on loan as a young player, and I played 50 games in the season.

"Being such a long way away from home, it was tough off the pitch in terms of not getting back for months, not getting back for Christmas or anything. Covid made it harder, because none of my family could ever come down and watch a game. They never actually got to see me play at Home Park, I never got to play in front of fans, but I made some great friends there. I still keep in contact with coaches and the lads, and I learnt a lot about myself off the pitch. I loved my time there and it's great to see them doing well."

When the defender returned to Newcastle last summer, he featured in several of the Magpies' pre-season friendlies under Steve Bruce, who admitted that the youngster's displays had given him "food for thought" going into the current campaign. 

And Watts admitted: "In the pre-season, firstly I wanted to impress the manager and show the lads as well how much I'd progressed from that loan spell since I'd made my Premier League debut. That was my initial (aim), just to do as best I could.

"Then I sat down with the manager and spoke to some of the lads, and they give you that advice - go back out on loan and play games, because at such a young age you just want to be playing games wherever you go. 

"There was a couple of Championship clubs, nothing set in stone, but when Wigan came in and were keen to take me, and wanted me to play, I didn't turn down that opportunity knowing the players that were coming through the door. We are doing well in the league and we're all fully focused - and I'm fully focused - on making sure we do cross the line at the end of the season."

Watts in action for Wigan Athletic, where he is currently on loan

The Latics are currently second in the table and a regular visitor to the DW Stadium throughout the season has been Shola Ameobi, Newcastle's loan player co-ordinator. Watts said: "I couldn't ask for much more from Shola since coming in. Every loan I've had, he's always been on the end of the phone, weekly, and comes to games; even the ones he doesn't, (he) always rings me about them.

"I think the key thing is, when it's going good sometimes I might not hear from him but it's when it maybe isn't; he's the first one on the phone. I mean, he's an ex-Premier League player who played 400 games so when he speaks, you listen because I know he's got so many pieces of advice to give me.

"He just knows the right time to say things which has definitely helped me a lot in feeling that connection. He's always saying 'the manager's watching' and just keeping me on my toes.

"And with Ben (Dawson, first team development coach), when I was transitioning from a forward player and a midfield player to being a centre-back, I played 40 games as centre-back with the under-23s when I was 18 and working with Ben after every game, sitting down, going through all the video work, that was massive.

"So having that connection, and having those relationships, you feel that support when you're away on loan."

Bruce, the head coach who gave Watts his debut, was replaced by Howe in November and Watts admitted: "When a new manager gets appointed and you're away on loan, initially there's that (feeling of) I want to be there at that first session, second session, and make an impression. But speaking to the lads, all of them have said great things and it made me excited, and speaking to him now, I'm looking forward to working with him in pre-season and just showing him what I'm about.

"I'll just do what I do on a day-to-day basis and what I've done for the past few years when playing professional football, but it'll be great to work with him. It was good to meet him and sit down with him and have a chat, let him get to know a bit about me, me learn about them (the coaching staff) and the way they work, and it'll be good working with him in the future."

He added: "Being in my position, centre-back, every coach you ever work for says you get better with age and you hit your peak when you're 28, 30. But for me I want to get those games in now and hit my peak when I'm 24, 25. Why not speed up the process? 

"I think playing over 100 games now l has given me good experience, and (when it comes to) playing in bigger games, I feel ready because I've got those games under my belt."