A few Newcastle United fans have been reacting on social media, after the Chronicle’s Mark Douglas shared that noises from the club are indicating that Matty Longstaff is close to signing a new contract.
Steve Bruce addressed Longstaff’s future during his pre-Aston Villa press conference on Thursday, and claimed that the club are ‘quietly confident’ on agreeing new terms with the midfielder.
The 19-year-old’s current deal is due to expire in the summer, meaning he would be free to negotiate pre-contract agreements with sides from abroad as early as January.
Clubs from Spain’s La Liga and France’s Ligue 1 along with Portuguese giants FC Porto and SL Benfica were said to have planned scouting missions to observe Longstaff in action with England’s Under 20s recently, as he would be available for a compensation fee of around £400,000 if he were to leave next summer.
Should Longstaff start vs Villa on Monday?
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Longstaff made his Young Lions debut against Portugal on November 14, before earning his first U20s start against Iceland on the 19th.
He is said to be desperate to stay at St. James’ Park beyond his current deal, where he made his Premier League debut with a match-winning display against Manchester United.
Bruce is confident a breakthrough will be imminent, with Managing Director Lee Charnley speaking with a number of agents as he seeks new deals with various players.
Here are some of the messages shared in response to Douglas’ update…
— ToonFan (@ToonFan14) November 21, 2019
Why is this so difficult !?????
— Paul Davison (@dubtoon) November 21, 2019
Quietly confident…. heard that with Rafa too. Im sure this is more straight forward though
— Sunny Singh (@sunnysinghb82) November 21, 2019
This should be nailed on not just quietly confident
— Colin Read (@ReadColin) November 21, 2019
Good news but Just always feel its Ashley protecting a bigger sale. Sad when you have to think like this
— Scotty ⚫⚪NUFC⚫⚪ (@ScottyT9804) November 21, 2019
This should be a straight forward negotiating tbh, young local lad with a decent career ahead if he knuckles down. Rumour has it Lazaar was making £20k plus a week which is ludicrous. Hopefully the club get this one right.
— Kris Wallace (@KrisWallace87) November 21, 2019