Former Newcastle United midfielder Lee Clark heaped praise on Sean Longstaff and tipped the 21-year-old to get even better.
Clark, who worked with the midfielder at Kilmarnock, shared that he keeps telling Magpies supporters that there is more to come from Longstaff even though he believes the 21-year-old was outstanding in his 2018/19 campaign.
The former Magpies player also went on to back Longstaff to be the type of midfielder who can get 10 goals a season and pointed out he thought it was important the club kept him at St James Park.
“I know him well and I know there’s a lot more to come,” wrote Clark in his column for Tribal Football.
“He’s been outstanding in his breakthrough season but for me, and I keep telling all the Newcastle fans this, there’s more to come from Sean Longstaff.
“He can be a midfield player that can go out and get 10 goals a season. I believe he is only going to get better and stronger. And it’s a great thing for the club.
“They love to have a one of their own in the squad and I think it’s important for a club in this area that there is a group of players who are local, who know the demands of the fans and know what the club is all about.”
OPINION
Clark knows Longstaff extremely well and if he believes the midfielder is capable of more, it’s hard not to believe him. Longstaff may have already defied expectations in the 2018/19 season but given his age, it seems very likely that he’ll get even better in the near future. The 21-year-old scored one goal and got one assist in the nine Premier League appearances he made in his latest season, and probably would have got more if his season wasn’t sadly cut short. Longstaff’s last game of the 2018/19 season came against West Ham in March as he injured his knee when going in for a tackle, but hopefully he’ll be able to get fit sooner rather than later to make it back for pre-season. It’s important the 21-year-old gets back in time to feature in pre-season as normally players who miss out on pre-season end up struggling in the opening stages of the season.