Five Things you might not know about Dan Barlaser

Gateshead-based Dan Barlaser was born on January 18th 1997. Just nine short years later, he signed for his boyhood club Newcastle United. Prior to officially joining them, Barlaser spent much of his younger years playing for local team Swalwell Juniors. It clearly did not take Dan long to impress as he quickly caught the eye of scouts on Tyneside and Newcastle made sure they snapped him up first before anyone else did.

Barlaser was born in England and he spent all of his life growing up in the Newcastle area. But he qualifies to play for the Turkish national team through his father. Barlaser has represented Turkey in the U16 and U17 age groups, making a total of 15 appearances for them between 2012 and 2014. Since then, Barlaser has been called-up for England's U18s and he played for them twice in 2015. Dan is just 23 and has a lot of years still ahead of him, so if either nation comes calling for him he will have a big decision to make as to who he represents.

It was former Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez who handed Dan Barlaser his senior debut for the club. Shortly after he began to train with the first-team, he was drafted in to start their FA Cup Third Round Replay against Birmingham City at St James' Park. The Magpies won 3-1 that day, and Barlaser went onto make two more appearances for Newcastle that season in the FA Cup and EFL Cup against Oxford United and Nottingham Forest respectively. In January 2018, Barlaser moved on-loan to Crewe where he made four appearances.

Dan Barlaser had his breakout season in senior football last year while at Accrington Stanley. The midfielder joined them originally on a loan until January, but that was extended until the end of the campaign after Barlaser's excellent form. He was an ever-present for Stanley in 2018/19, making a total of 45 appearances in all competitions and he scored three goals in the process. His performances did not go unnoticed and Rotherham had to ward off interest from a number of clubs to secure his services for this season.

Newcastle boss Steve Bruce faces a big dilemma this summer. Dan Barlaser will have just a year remaining on his contract, with it expiring in 2021. Will he decide to cash in on the 23-year-old, or will he give the midfielder a chance to impress in the first-team for his boyhood club? Regardless, Barlaser will not be short of interest this summer. He has already been linked with a number of clubs in the Championship, as well as teams in Europe. The most likely outcome will be that he will go out on loan again, to ready him for a step up to playing in the Premier League. Rotherham will be desperate to keep hold of their loanee next season, but they will definitely need to get promoted this year to have any hope of keeping the talented youngster.