Sean Longstaff’s name is fixed on the radar of Manchester United, who may look to prise the Newcastle product out of Tyneside next summer, according to ESPN.
The North Shields-born midfielder was heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford in the recent transfer window, but the Red Devils were put off by our £50million asking price, as they valued the 21-year-old closer to £30million.
Newcastle chiefs immediately refused Manchester United’s advances with offers in that region, and are now reportedly planning to increase the Toon star’s £25,000-a-week wage with a long-term contract worth as much as £80,000-a/w to better reflect his value to the club.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sleeping giant of the Premier League remain keen on striking a deal, though, and could look to make a move happen next summer, as the Red Devils head coach has prioritised midfield reinforcements after Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward failed to replace Ander Herrera or Marouane Fellaini.
Sporting CP captain Bruno Fernandes was another name to be linked with the Old Trafford natives over the last few months, but Woodward backed out of negotiations with his Liga NOS outfit due to concerns the Portugal international would struggle to adapt to the English game in Solskjaer’s possession-based system.
Failing to add another option to the Red Devil’s engine room saw Solskjaer deploy Paul Pogba alongside Scott McTominay, with Andreas Pereira operating in the more advanced role, as the Manchester side thrashed top-four rival Chelsea in their curtain-raiser last weekend.
McTominay has never been able to display enough at Old Trafford to warrant being given a consistent role in their starting XI, so a year of the Scotland international featuring regularly may heighten Manchester United’s eagerness to sign Longstaff, if the Toon star can put together a solid campaign of his own in the North East.