NEWCASTLE boy wonder Lewis Miley has gone from being bed-ridden with glandular fever to bossing the Parc des Princes in little over a month.
Given that came three days after upstaging Chelsea’s £106million playmaker Enzo Fernandez — and not for the first time — the Toon’s teen sensation looks destined for the very top.
Magpies boss Eddie Howe initially wanted to sign two midfielders heading into the summer but those transfer plans were quickly ripped up in pre-season.
Fresh-faced Miley was so good against Chelsea’s Argentine World Cup winner Fernandez in the US that Howe admitted he has never seen such a gifted 17-year-old.
While his talent was obvious to everyone who watched him then, the whole of Europe is taking notice now as he benefits from Newcastle’s injury crisis and Sandro Tonali’s betting ban.
Miley really turned heads last Saturday against the Blues when he became the sixth-youngest player to make a Prem assist with a stunning through ball to set up Alexander Isak during a 4-1 victory.
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Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain made him the third-youngest Englishman to start a Champions League game — after Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden.
And if he follows a similar career trajectory to those two, Newcastle have a potential world beater on their hands.
Howe spoke in July about how it was his job to “protect” Miley from the inevitable exposure coming his way.
But his classy displays in the last week mean the Toon manager has a job on his hands trying to contain the hype from now on.
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And ahead of hosting Manchester United tonight, Howe said: “He’s had a very early taste of high-level football, which can only be a good thing.
“If he was a different kind of character I might question that, but he’s not.
“He’s just able to take everything in his stride from what we’ve seen.
“For someone so young he’s just got a really good perspective on professional sport and on life. He’s very calm and you wouldn’t know between games how well he is doing.
“He’s just the same Lewis. Very polite, very respectful, but very keen to show his obvious qualities.”
Miley, from Stanley in County Durham, joined Newcastle’s academy aged just seven.
Older brother Jamie and younger brother Mason are also on the Toon’s books, while Layton — the youngest of the four — is at Sunderland.
He started training with the Toon first team last season and the squad have all been left in awe.
At 6ft 2in, skipper Jamaal Lascelles claims he will become a “beast” when he fills out.
And fellow midfielder Bruno Guimaraes explained: “Lewis is massive, he’s a star. When I was 17 I was s**t. He is so great.”
England full-back Kieran Trippier also said after the PSG clash on Tuesday night: “He can go all the way to the top. It feels like he’s played 400 games — not four.”
An eye for the killer pass, an unflappable temperament and his high footballing IQ set Miley apart from his peers.
A down-to-earth lad who was never in trouble at school, his old PE teacher at Tanfield School spoke of his 99 per cent attendance and 100 per cent positive behaviour score in Year 11.
The local lad made a low-key debut off the bench against Chelsea on the final day of last season before ripping it up in pre-season.
He then had to be content with Newcastle Under-21 and England U-19 games, with his first start coming against Manchester City in the League Cup on September 27.
Yet Miley was hooked at half-time and not seen again for five weeks, when he came off the bench in the Tyneside giants’ 2-0 home defeat to Borussia Dortmund.
Three days before, doing some extra running having been an unused sub in the 1-0 win over Arsenal, Miley told reporters about the “awful” glandular fever that wiped him out.
And while having to deal with lingering after-effects, the youngster has since proven the sky is the limit.
Even when crocked midfielders Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff and Elliot Anderson return, there is every reason to think Miley will still be heavily involved.
Asked if he may send the teen out on loan in the future, Howe said: “Who knows, it’s very difficult to tell.
“I felt it wouldn’t be right to send Lewis on loan in the summer.
“I don’t think that was appropriate and he was also too close to playing here for us.
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“Some players miss the loan system completely because they develop so quickly, they come straight into the first team and stay there.
“The rest will be dictated by Lewis and how well he performs.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
