Darren Gough raved about Newcastle United duo Sean Longstaff and Matty Longstaff after hearing an interview by Sean.
The former England cricketer couldn’t believe how well-spoken Longstaff was and how mature he sounded before highlighting that Matty (Longstaff) was also at St James Park and that he was a very good young player.
“Maturity, what is he 21-years-old? That’s a very good interview for someone his age to speak like that,” said Gough on talkSPORT (18:48, Tuesday, August 6th).
“And apparently his brother is there, he is a very very good young player and signed a professional contract last year.”
Durham then piped up to point out that the Magpies pair weren’t the only footballers in their family as there was another Longstaff brother at Liverpool, and Gough was left amazed.
“Really? What a family,” added Gough.
Durham then said Longstaff’s dad was an ice hockey player and that he believes they have a sister involved in netball, which prompted Gough to say they were like the Neville family and cheekily wondered if they could outdo them.
The talkSPORT broadcaster then checked his facts and added that Longstaff’s dad’s cousin is former Magpie Alan Thompson, and Gough was left even more stunned.
“Wow!” said Gough.
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OPINION
It seems Gough has been impressed with both Longstaff brothers, for different reasons, and seems amazed that there was another brother lurking at Liverpool. However, Durham’s information isn’t spot-on as while Luis Longstaff is currently part of Liverpool’s academy with the 18-year-old winger having left St James Park to join the Reds in 2015 (Source: Liverpool’s club website), journalist James Pearce stated that he is not related to the duo on Twitter. However, while that Longstaff is out of the Magpies’ reach at least Newcastle have Matty and Sean on their books. Sean managed to break into the Magpies’ first-team last season and ended up making nine Premier League appearances before sadly having his season cut short by picking up an injury. Sean scored one goal, averaged 32.5 passes per game, saw 67% of his crosses find their mark, and had an impressive tackle success rate of 76% (Source: Premier League). So if the 21-year-old can build on those stats in his coming campaign and show the maturity that Gough believes he shows in interviews, then his future looks bright. As for his brother Matty, he hasn’t featured for the first-team in a competitive match as of yet, but did feature for Steve Bruce’s side in pre-season. Matty registered five assists in 20 outings for the Magpies’ U-23s in the Premier League 2 last season, so may be ready to be given a proper chance in the senior side.
