The 16-year-old has signed from Scottish League Two side Queen's Park, where he has made nine first team appearances this season.

Midfielder Thomson, who was with the Hampden Park club from the age of nine, has three caps for his country at under-17 level.

The Magpies fought off competition from clubs in both England and Scotland to sign the teenager, who told nufc.co.uk: "I just thought Newcastle is the place I want to be, a better place to come in my opinion. You look at boys like Sean and Matty Longstaff, and then young Tom Allan who came on the other night - hopefully in a few years, I can try and get in there."

He added: "It's good and it's exciting, and we'll see what happens over the next few weeks or few years."

Academy Manager Joe Joyce said: "He's an exciting prospect who has attracted a lot of interest from clubs both north and south of the border, so we're delighted that he's signed with us. It is a long term project but he's been playing senior football in Scotland, which gives him a good advantage and a good starting point here.

"We're very mindful that he will take a little bit of time to settle and we'll look at that very carefully to make sure everything's done properly for him right from the start.

"What he'll want to do is get out on the training pitch, get out on the field and play football, and then we'll see where we go in the next three to four weeks."

Read Reagan Thomson's first interview here