Yankuba Minteh made an instant impression at Feyenoord this season. The Newcastle United loan player is scoring and creating goals as he picked up appearances both as a starter and as a sub.
Feyenoord manager Arne Slot spoke of how early in his loan spell, he had been impressed with Minteh.
Then injury struck, followed by up and down form, no surprise with a 19-year-old winger playing in both Champions League and stepping up from domestic football in Denmark to that in Holland.
Yankuba Minteh and his Feyenoord teammates were gutted to go out of Europe in midweek when losing their Europa League play-off to Roma on penalties, so on Sunday they were hoping to get back to winning form at Almere City in the Dutch domestic league.
Introduced from the bench with the game goalless in the 61st minute, only 11 minutes later Yankuba Minteh scored a potentially world class goal, or was it meant to be a cross? You decide.
Then in added time he made sure of the three points for Feyenoord with what was a very smart strike, showing great technique.
With only eight league starts as well as appearances off the bench, Yankuba Mineth already has seven direct goal involvements for Feyenoord in the league, scoring five and two assists.
Minteh’s double on Sunday gave Feyenoord a 2-0 win which puts them eight points clear of third place Twente, although runaway league leaders PSV are 10 points ahead at the top.
Feyenoord boss Arne Slot speaking earlier this season about Yankuba Minteh and his early impact before picking up an injury – 2 October 2023 said: “Our scouts were also impressed by his year at Odense. Minteh went to Newcastle United and the English were looking for a club to loan him to. That’s how he came to us.He certainly doesn’t lack self-confidence. His willingness to give everything is enormous. When we see his statistics, it is really impressive. Minteh runs more sprint metres against Ajax in an hour (in the recent 4-0 Feyenoord win) than many other boys do in two games. He is incredibly fast. And he wants it so badly.”.
themag.co.uk
