Newcastle appoint Amaral as Head of Recruitment

Amaral, who will report to Sporting Director Ross Wilson, will lead the first team scouting and also expand the club’s presence and relationships in different parts of the world.

He arrives at St James’ Park with plenty of experience in football recruitment across different European leagues.

Meanwhile, Paul Midgley, who oversees Academy recruitment and scouts global emerging talent, will also report directly to Wilson.

Amaral began his football career in Portugal – first as Assistant Coach at both Clube Desportivo Santo Antonio de Lisboa and then Belenenses, before becoming a Scout for Clube Desportivo das Aves.

After working as Assistant Coach/Video Analyst at Farense and Braga, he moved to Spain where he worked as First Team Scout for Granada, Eibar and Real Valladolid. He then returned to Portugal and spent four-and-a-half years as Senior Scout at Benfica before moving to Russia, where he spent a year as Sporting Director of Spartak Moscow.

‘Highly respected’

Amaral said: “It is with great pride and a strong sense of responsibility that I join Newcastle United, a historic club with passionate supporters who have high expectations and ambitions.

“From my very first conversations with Ross Wilson, I immediately understood the vision and the direction the club wants to take over the coming years.

“I strongly share the ideas and ambitions of the people at the club, and I am determined to play my part in contributing to Newcastle United’s success. I am really looking forward to meeting everyone and getting started at a club with such high standards.”

Wilson said: “Tomás’s appointment is an important step as we reshape and strengthen our recruitment structure.

“It was important that we identified a leader who could further enhance our capability and help drive our long-term ambitions, and Tomás has established an excellent reputation for his strategic approach to talent identification.

“He is highly respected across European football and brings significant experience, outstanding market knowledge and a strong network of relationships.”

Wilson was on the Sporting Director panel at last month’s TGG Live ’26, along with Sheffield Wednesday’s Simon Wilson and Derby County’s Leigh Bromby.

‘Incredible momentum’

Nickson spent 15 years at Newcastle and played a key role in several major transfers for the club, including the record signing of Miguel Almiron as well as the deals for Ayoze Perez, Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Allan Saint-Maximin.

On joining Wrexham, he said: “This is a club with incredible momentum, a unique culture and a clear ambition. There is already a strong foundation in place and my focus will be on helping Wrexham take the next step by building the structure, talent pathways and football operations needed to support the club’s ambition of reaching the Premier League.”