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A midfielder who had a £50m asking price slapped on him six years ago looks set to leave his boyhood club.
Now 27, he found that last season he fell down the pecking order at St James’ Park after Sandro Tonali’s return after a betting ban.
Longstaff has a year left on his contract and Leeds and Newcastle have spent several weeks in negotiations about a move. The fee that has been offered by Leeds is £10m plus add-ons, and the ball is now in Newcastle’s court to decide.
As an academy graduate the cash would represent pure profit for the Toon under financial fair play, and The Athletic’s transfer guru David Ornstein says that Longstaff would rather go now so Newcastle benefit, rather than next summer when he would leave on a free - and possibly gain better terms for himself because of this.
The £10m is a far cry from a transfer saga Longstaff was embroiled in six years ago, when Manchester United were interested in him. Newcastle then slapped a £50m pricetag on him, which deterred the Old Trafford side. with the Red Devils five years ago, though a transfer failed to materialise after Newcastle's £50m asking price emerged.
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Last year Longstaff told the Manchester Evening News: “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.”
Longstaff has made 171 league appearances for Newcastle since 2016, scoring 10 goals. Last season he appeared 25 times in the Premier League, fewer than in the previous two terms.
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