Newcastle United reveal recruitment secret that took Magpies from Cambridge to PSG win

Newcastle United were beaten by League One Cambridge in early 2022 but just 20 months later pulled off huge scalp against PSG

Dan Burn feels that Newcastle United’s recruitment policy has been key since the takeover with the man of the moment insisting there is an understanding of the type of characters needed to play for Newcastle United.

The 6ft 7in defender was an integral part of the 4-1 win over Paris St-Germain as he steamed into tackles and celebrated challenges as if he was playing the last game of his career. But the Blyth lad says that the team’s DNA has not resulted in such good form by accident.

When Newcastle were beaten by Cambridge in early 2022 and in a relegation scap they turned to battling Burn to help get then out of trouble. But even he could not have anticipated he’d be on the same pitch as Kylian Mbappe when he swapped Brighton for St James’ Park.

Former Darlington defender Burn – who has dovetailed perfectly with stars like Sven Botman and Alexander Isak – told Chronicle Live: “That’s the one thing I would say about our recruitment – I don’t think we’ve gone out there and just picked anyone, there’s been a lot of thought put into it, character references, those sort of things, and there’s no-one in there who thinks they’re bigger than the team.

“We work hard for each other and get each other over the line.”

Burn feels that Newcastle belong in the Champions League after now tasting some big European nights as both a player and a fan. It is very much a case of bring on Borussia Dortmund now at St James’ Park as Newcastle look to WIN Group F.

Burn said: “We don’t fear anyone. “We worked very, very hard to get to this point and we want to enjoy it, but we’ll only enjoy that playing the way that we play.

“We’ve just got to keep the momentum going. “Dortmund will be another tough game, they’re a brilliant team.”

As one of the dressing room leaders though Burn was keen to point out that Newcastle have plenty of work to do before Dortmund fans illuminate St James’ Park.

He said: “Everyone is buzzing. “The thing is we’ve got another game on Sunday, so we’ll enjoy tonight and tomorrow, and then we’ll be straight on to West Ham.

“But there are not many times you can say you’ve beaten Paris St Germain in the Champions League.”