Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff, pictured left, and boss Eddie Howe
Sean Longstaff's Newcastle United future is yet to be decided as interest grows in the midfielder's signature. The 27-year-old has fallen down the pecking order on Tyneside and, as such, is catching the eye of multiple Premier League suitors.
Chronicle Live understands Leeds United are indeed interested in Longstaff amid recent transfer speculation, while Manchester United and Everton have kept tabs on the Newcastle star of late and under previous managers. It is understood MLS interest, which tentatively emerged last summer, could be a game-changer for the player too.
However, with Newcastle back in the big time after securing Champions League football next season, UEFA's homegrown quotas must be taken into consideration when it comes to both signing or selling players. The competition's rules state the Magpies must have four homegrown players - who were registered with the club for at least three years between the age of 15 and 21 - in their European squad.
At present, Longstaff is the only player to fit that bill given the likes of Elliot Anderson and Paul Dummett have left the club since the last Champions League campaign at St James' Park. Speculation has been rife that one of three free agent goalkeepers - Tim Krul, Jan Alnwick or Freddie Woodman - could be re-signed by Newcastle to help comply with these UEFA regulations.
With suitors expected to make their moves for Longstaff in the coming months, decisions must be taken by both the club and the player as to where his future lies. Eddie Howe admires the player a lot, despite his limited game time of late, while Longstaff himself appears relaxed over his situation given he has just over one year left to run on his current deal.
“Yeah, if it’s here [Newcastle] it’s great. If it’s not, it’s not,” he said earlier this season. “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.”
Longstaff's last Premier League start for Newcastle came in early December and it is clear he is behind the likes of Lewis Miley and Joe Willock in the pecking order despite being a regular fixture in Howe's side during their last Champions League tilt.
Newcastle's financial picture looks significantly rosier than summers gone by but there is still an expectation some senior players could depart this summer - if the finances suit the north east outfit. Each of Longstaff, Willock and Miley have all been linked with moves away, despite Howe publicly backing each of the midfield trio in recent months.
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