Manchester United are reportedly eyeing a surprise move for outgoing Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff when the summer transfer window commences.
United are expected to dip into the market for midfield reinforcements, especially amidst the uncertainty surrounding Casemiro and Christian Eriksen.
Eriksen is all but assured to depart Old Trafford upon the expiry of his contract in June while United are believed to still be keen on parting ways with Casemiro and offloading his mega 350,000 per week wages from their books.
The Red Devils continued to be linked to a number of midfielders including Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace), Ederson (Atalanta), Kenan Yildiz (Juventus), Xavi Simons (RB Leipzig), Angel Gomes (Lille), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Joao Gomes (Wolves), Jobe Bellingham (Sunderland) and Morgan Gobbs-White (Nottingham Forest), just to mention a few names.
Now, ChronicleLive report that Longstaff is of interest to Ruben Amorim’s side. It’s understood that Longstaff is “approaching a crossroads” in his Newcastle career given the quality of midfield options available to Eddie Howe.
At the moment, it seems that Sandro Tonali, Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes are guaranteed starts. Combine this with Howe’s desire to afford youngster Lewis Miley more minutes and Longstaff’s prospects are not looking good.
ChronicleLive reveal, “Both Everton and Manchester United, back in for his signature, are keen on a cash deal this summer. With a year left on his contract Newcastle also know they can make a pure profit deal for the Academy product.”
“Newcastle fan Longstaff would leave with a heavy heart, given his affinity with the Magpies, but as he nears his peak years, it is vital that he plays regular first-team action. Man United and the Toffees have both scouted him in recent times.”
So far this season, Longstaff has made 28 appearances across all competitions for the Magpies most of which have seen him come on from the bench.
As alluded to by ChronicleLive, this not the first time Longstaff has been mentioned to be on United’s radar. Back in 2019, under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a switch to the Theatre of Dreams was mooted but it didn’t materialise.
At the time, Newcastle wanted 50m to sanction Longstaff’s exit – a sum United considered excessive.
A year ago, Longstaff opened up on the failed switch to United and said, “If that move had happened, I’d never have been about for the Newcastle takeover and I’d never have been able to captain the club. There are so many things I wouldn’t have been able to do.”
“I’m happy it didn’t happen in the end, because what I’ve gone on to achieve over the last two years – scoring in a League Cup semi-final, getting to play in a cup final, playing in the Champions League – have been things I never thought would happen, playing for Newcastle.”
“When the Manchester United stuff came around, I was still still so young. I’d probably deal with it differently now and not allow myself to get caught up in every little thing going on with it. I was coming back from my knee injury at the time, trying to get fit to prove I could still play.”
“People are talking about you and have built you up so much that the perception is ‘Now you’re like Lionel Messi’. Everyone was expecting too much. Meanwhile, I was in the gym thinking ‘I can’t even do one leg squat’. There was so much going on, but none of the Manchester United stuff came to fruition and I seemed to go from up here to down there.”
United are back in action on April 1 when they go away to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest.
Featured image George Wood via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
