Newcastle United have pulled a surprise u-turn over the future of Sean Longstaff after delaying his agreed loan move to Portsmouth after impressing during pre-season, according to Portsmouth News.
The south coast publication claim on their website that the Magpies have told Pompey that they will be keeping the 20-year-old attacking midfielder at St James’ Park for another two weeks after he stole the limelight during a friendly against St Patrick’s, scoring the opening goal.
It is stated that Portsmouth expected Longstaff to make the journey to Fratton Park on Thursday to seal the deal but they must now bide their time as Rafael Benitez runs the rule over the youngster.
Opinion
Newcastle have not had much luck in the transfer window so far and it could be that Benitez is weighing up whether Longstaff is good enough to be part of the first team for the upcoming campaign. It would be a marked improvement on his fortunes if he was kept around, with Newcastle reportedly happy to let him head down to League One until his impressive performance on Tuesday night in Dublin. He must now put his head down and give everything in training if he hopes to prove to the Spanish manager that he has what it takes to be a part of the senior squad, or he could still find himself heading into England’s third tier with Pompey. Newcastle have not had many youth candidates come through their ranks and into the first team, so fans would be happy to see him given the chance – but of course, they would rather see their club splash some cash on proven talents.