It is likely to be a “few months” before Sean Longstaff signs a new deal with Newcastle United, according to The Athletic journalist Chris Waugh.
The Telegraph have recently reported that the Magpies are reluctant to offer new terms to the 22-year-old as he only agreed his current contract less than a year ago.
It was reported that Longstaff has to prove to Newcastle that he is worthy of a new deal but speaking via a Q&A session on The Athletic’s website on Wednesday, Waugh revealed that what he has heard does not match up with that.
“In terms of the Longstaffs, there was a report earlier in the week claiming Matty will sign a new deal but that Sean has been told he needs to earn another one, having penned his latest deal last December,” said Waugh.
“My information does not yet tally up with that; I do know discussions have been on-going with both, and certainly Matty is keen to sign a deal, but whether that is imminent or not I cannot say for certain.
“As for Sean, I do believe it is likely to be a few months before he signs a new deal, with Newcastle keen for him to return to full fitness after his injury problems and then prove he should be among the highest earners.”
OPINION
Newcastle are not in any rush to agree a new deal to Longstaff, that could be what the hold up is here. Sean’s younger brother Matty is out of contract at the end of the season and as the two are brothers, a lot of what has been happening with both of them has seen them compared to one another. It is natural as they are brothers but at the end of the day, they are both two separate footballers in two different situations. Sean Longstaff’s contract still has a long time to run on it so there is no need to hurry to offer him new terms. What Waugh is saying rings true because the midfielder has had his injury issues and his form in the last few weeks had not been as good as what fans saw when Rafa Benitez was in charge. Longstaff is some way off from being the finished product and you cannot blame Newcastle from wanting him to prove he is close to that stage before committing more years to his deal.
