Newcastle United have sent out Kelland Watts on loan to League Two side Stevenage.
Watts has joined on a season-long loan as he looks to gain football league experience to ready him for the step up into Newcastle's first team.
The 19-year old is highly regarded within the club and is expected to make the transition into the first team within the next few seasons.
First taste of the football league
Watts appeared in all 41 games for the Magpies' second-string side last season, even appearing on the bench for the final game of the season against Fulham last season.
The promising centre back played against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the pre-season Premier League Asia Trophy in China.
However, Ben Dawson and Shola Ameobi believe it is best for Watts to get regular first-team football.
Watts insists 'it was all great' when he came down to see what it was like at Stevenage before he made his decision to join the club.
The defender was attracting a lot of interest from League One and Two clubs but he chose Stevenage in the end.
He said: "I just instantly loved it, the manager, the players and the set up is all great."
Ready to take his chance
Watts knows there is fierce competition for places especially at the back but will be hopeful of making an impact at his new club.
A lot of Stevenage fans will not have seen Watts play before, as well as many Newcastle fans which makes him eager to show what he can do.
He added: "It's going to be different, I'm going to learn new things, I'm going to improve game-by-game.
"I'm ready to come and show my abilities and show what I've got."
Thought of highly within England and Newcastle
It is a sort of privilege for Watts to arrive on loan at Stevenage as boss Dino Maamria does not bring in many loan deals.
Maamria saw Watts first hand before making a final decision on whether or not to bring him to the Lamex Stadium
He said: "Kelland is rated highly by Newcastle and England as well and I know Andy Edward, the under 19s manager and I spoke to him in quite detail about Kelland and he spoke highly of Kelland."
Watts is expected to play regularly for Stevenage and Maamria is already impressed with what he has seen from the youngster and what he can bring to the team.
He added: "He's a young man, not a young boy and he likes to defend properly and he got a fantastic left foot."