Lee Clark believes Matty Longstaff has 'great ability' and has a 'strong chance' of being on the bench against Arsenal in tomorrow's Premier League opener.
Clark coached Matty's older brother, Sean, while Kilmarnock manager and has long championed his abilities.
The elder Longstaff has since gone on to establish himself in Newcastle's first team and was linked with a move to Manchester United this summer.
And now Matty, who impressed at under-23 level last term, is making an impression and featured in all five of Newcastle's pre-season games.
He even scored at St James' Park last weekend just seconds after coming on against St Etienne and he is part of Steve Bruce's immediate plans after being handed a squad number for the season.
And Clark is well aware of the ability Longstaff possesses and believes his pre-season form may well have played him into the matchday squad tomorrow.
"As I've wrote previously about Sean, I've been aware of Matty for a long time," Clark told Tribal Football.
"Matty's a different player to Sean in that he's a smaller version, very aggressive and loves to get around people.
"But he also has great ability and I've got no doubt he can make a huge impact. I think he's made such a strong impact in pre-season that there's a strong chance he could be on the bench against Arsenal on the weekend."
The initial plan had been for Longstaff to head out on loan this summer. Such has been his form in pre-season, though, he has given Bruce a decision to make.
He will remain with Newcastle for this month and at the very least he should make his competitive debut for the Magpies in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
Clubs in League One and League Two, as well as the Scottish Premiership, can still loan players until the end of the month, though, and Clark believes that may be an avenue Bruce can pursue if he decides he has enough bodies in his 25-man squad to cope with Longstaff's absence.
"I think what Steve has to decide is how close do they think he is to breaking into starting XI," he added.
"If they think he's still a little bit away a good thing would be for him to take the same route as his brother Sean and go out on loan and build a number of games to get experience.
"If he thinks he's still some time away, because he's still really young, then you can't deny him that opportunity to get out on loan. U23 football is probably not Matty's aim anymore.
"It'll be a loan move. Possibly SPFL like Sean or a Championship club to then re-assess in January and see where he is. I think there will be no harm in him doing the same route as what Sean did that's for sure."
