Newcastle United are “quietly confident” of tying Matty Longstaff down to a new deal at St. James’ Park, according to manager Steve Bruce.
The young midfielder has broken into the first team this season, but his current contract runs out next summer, potentially opening the door for him to start looking for a new club in January.
As quoted by the Chronicle, however, Bruce is fairly relaxed about the situation.
He said: “We’re quietly confident we’ll get that tied up over the next few weeks but, as I’ve said many times now, it seems to take forever – even with a young lad like Matty – but we’re quietly confident that it will be OK.”
OPINION
This is great news for Newcastle. Longstaff, like his elder brother before him, has been a breath of fresh air around St. James’ Park, and having him commit his future to his boyhood club would be a really positive deal for the Magpies. His debut against Manchester United, when he struck the winner and registered a Whoscored rating of 8.05, was as good as any bow in recent Premier League history, and while he may have trailed off marginally in recent weeks, the fact of the matter is that he looks as if he can be a serious player for this club for years to come. Losing him for a paltry fee immediately after his breakthrough is about as disastrous a hit as the Toon Army could take right now, so for Bruce to be making noises as positive as this, it shows that things are moving in the right direction.
