Liam Kennedy has been on a recent episode of NUFC Matters with Steve Wraith where he has been talking about all things to do with Newcastle United, and one of the topics that he spent some time on during the show was Matty Longstaff’s new contract.
Last weekend, the Toon announced that the 20-year-old has signed a new two-year deal with the club, and Kennedy has revealed what he likes about this deal for Longstaff.
He said: “This deal almost puts the power with the player and I quite like that; I quite like that he’s backing himself to make an impact at Newcastle, he wants to make an impact at Newcastle [and] that is why he’s stayed, he always wanted to stay.
“It wasn’t about the money and all this talk of ‘he’s been offered £20k, and he wants £30k’ – I don’t think the money was a massive factor in this.”
Do you like the length of this deal?
No, should have been longer
Yes, good deal for both the club and Longstaff
TIF Thoughts…
The 20-year-old reportedly received an offer of around £30,000 per week to join Udinese, and the Toon offered him £20,000 per week, so if that is the contract that he has now signed with the North East club, then maybe it wasn’t about money for Longstaff, as Kennedy has suggested.
Longstaff has a lot of competition in that midfield area, with Newcastle also recently signing Jeff Hendrick, so he will have to prove his worth.
Last season the 20-year-old made 16 appearances for Newcastle in all competitions and scored three goals, including the winner on his league debut against Manchester United, so it is now up to him to stake a place in Steve Bruce’s side.
We can see why Kennedy likes this deal for Longstaff because it gives him two years to earn a first-team place and then possibly another contract with the Toon or a move elsewhere, so we will have to see how he does over the coming season.