Newcastle United's English midfielder #36 Sean Longstaff celebrates after scoring the winning penalty during the English League Cup second round football match between Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United
Newcastle United's English midfielder #36 Sean Longstaff celebrates after scoring the winning penalty during the English League Cup second round football match between Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United
Sean Longstaff wants to stay at boyhood club Newcastle United amid speculation he could be one of the unlucky stars to be moved on as the club wrestle with profit and sustainability rules [PSR] concerns.
The academy graduate, who featured 46 times for Eddie Howe's side last term, remains one of the Newcastle boss' favoured options but with the north east outfit hampered by top flight spending regulations they are attempting to become better sellers, which in turn means speculation lingers over Longstaff and a handful of other senior players.
Chronicle Live understands the midfielder has no great desire to leave Newcastle and it would take an attractive offer from an established Premier League club in and around the top half of the table - or a surprise move to the MLS - to begin to change that stance. Longstaff's younger brother, Matty, is currently plying his trade in the league with Toronto FC after leaving St James' Park in 2023.
The 27-year-old's contract is due to expire at the end of the season but Newcastle have every intention of triggering a one-year extension to ensure they don't lose the player on a free. Longstaff is one of a handful of first-team players who could reluctantly be sold as Howe's side look to raise funds to then reinvest.
"I don’t think there’s a wish or a want from anyone to sell our best players," Howe said on the matter of player sales on Friday morning. "I get the question, and I understand the train of thought.
"But there’s so much more that goes into it than the simple decision that has been presented. We’re desperate to take the team forward positively, not step back in any way."
Longstaff has been a regular, once again, in Howe's side this season as he jostles with Sandro Tonali for a starting spot in the middle of the park. Despite performances that often go under the radar while playing alongside Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes, the local lad continues to enjoy the full support of his manager and the vast majority of Newcastle's fan base.
“If it’s here it’s great. If it’s not, it’s not,” Longstaff recently said when asked about his future. “I want to be valued as a player, I want to be appreciated as a player and whether it’s here great. If it’s not here and it’s somewhere else, it’ll be somewhere else.
“In a way I live day to day, game to game and I just try and take in every game. I get to go to work every day and spend it with my best friends, I don’t know what’s coming ahead, I don’t know what’s coming down the line, I just try to embrace every day and enjoy every minute because ultimately it won’t last forever.”