Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has missed out on the club’s pre-season tour to work on a deal to sign Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff, according to the Evening Standard.
The newspaper claim on their website that Woodward has missed the trip to Australia and the Far East, in an attempt to force through a double deal which includes Leicester City’s, Harry Maguire.
Manchester United were reported by the Evening Standard to have been put off by Newcastle’s £50million price tag on the 21-year-old and expected to pay a maximum of £25million for the midfield starlet.
Longstaff made only eight starts under Rafael Benitez in the Premier League before a knee injury ended his season prematurely.
OPINION
This rumour doesn’t seem to be disappearing anytime soon, with all Newcastle fans surely fearing the worst in the coming weeks. It appeared that the Premier League giants had been put off any potential deal after being quoted £50million, with Newcastle most likely issuing that valuation in a hope to scare them away from making an offer in the future. That doesn’t seem to have worked, with the Red Devils more determined than ever if Woodward’s trip snub is anything to go by. Despite all of this, Newcastle must stand firm in an attempt to keep ahold of one of their brightest talents at St James’ Park. Even though it was a brief spell in the heart of midfield, Longstaff made a real impact on Benitez’ side last season, averaging 1.9 tackles and 1.1 interceptions – more than the experienced duo of Jonjo Shelvey and Ki Sung-yueng [WhoScored]. It is essential that Newcastle make sure that Longstaff is involved in no negotiations with the Old Trafford side this summer, and make sure that Woodward’s attempts to tempt the youngster never get off the ground.
