Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce is planning to sit down with Sean Longstaff and discuss the player’s future, according to Sky Sports journalist David Reed.
The Sky Sports reporter shared on Sky Sports News that Bruce will tell the midfielder he is a key part of his plans for the 2019/20 season and added that Longstaff is desperate to impress his new manager.
Reed also claimed that while Longstaff is keen on talking to Manchester United about joining them, he is not pushing for a move to Old Trafford.
“Listen up Newcastle fans, this is an update on the situation with Sean Longstaff,” said Reed on Sky Sports News (12:32pm, Thursday, July 18th).
“We were talking earlier about the situation with Longstaff as the situation in midfield will be one of the big priorities for Steve Bruce having taken over as head coach.
“We can tell you that the manager is planning to sit down with Sean Longstaff to discuss his future, we understand he will tell Longstaff that he is a key part of his plans for the upcoming season.
“That is of course with the interest from Manchester United in the background.
“We’re told that Longstaff is excited at the prospect of Bruce taking charge and he is desperate to impress the new manager to become a Newcastle regular and try and progress his fledgeling career.
“Here’s a key line, while Longstaff is keen to talk to Manchester United, he is not pushing for a move.”
OPINION
While Longstaff being excited at the prospect of Bruce being in charge is questionable, the rest of Reed’s update on the situation will be music to the ears of Newcastle fans. This is especially the case when you consider that Sky Sports have also reported that while Manchester United are keen on signing the Magpies midfielder, they’re not willing to pay anywhere near his £50million asking price. So all things considered, it sounds like Longstaff isn’t set to be leaving St James Park anytime soon. The 21-year-old may have managed only nine league appearances in his 2018/19 campaign, due to breaking into the first-team late in the season and then picking up an injury, but he could be an asset in his coming campaign. Longstaff showed his potential in his brief outings, by scoring once and assisting one in his league outings, and could easily build on that if given more playing time. The midfielder, who had a pass success rating of 80.9% (Source: WhoScored), will hopefully be a bright spark at St James Park in what is otherwise looking like a dismal campaign already.
