Newcastle United journalist Lee Ryder has discussed what this season could hold for Matty Longstaff.
The 21-year-old academy graduate has certainly gone downhill during his time at Newcastle United under Steve Bruce.
He started off incredibly well in 2019 when he rose to prominence with a goal on his Premier League debut against Manchester United, before following that up with another goal in the return game in just his fourth Premier League appearance.
However, he hasn’t been given the chance to really kick on since then, finding himself pretty much frozen out of the side in 2020/21, making just five appearances throughout the entire campaign.
Speaking about Longstaff’s future on a Facebook Live video, Ryder hinted that his playing time, at. St James’ Park at least, could be set to decrease further as he felt like the club were getting ready to ship him out on loan:
“Looks to me like he’s going out on loan. They haven’t quite decided on which club they’re gonna go to yet. But I think Derby County could be one to watch, I think Derby have got about nine outfield players or something stupid like that at the moment. They are desperate for bodies in and I think Matty Longstaff could potentially be going there.
“There was talk of Celtic earlier in the summer but nothing really materialised from that and there’s been other clubs as well thrown in there, but we’ll see.”
TIF Thoughts on Lee Ryder’s comments about Matty Longstaff at Newcastle United…
What should Newcastle do with Matty Longstaff this summer?
Keep him in the squad for next season
Loan him out
Sell him
A loan move is undoubtedly the best move for him right now. At 21 years of age, there’s still plenty of time for him to develop as a player and show that he still has something to offer to Bruce.
To score two goals in two games against Manchester United in the Premier League, the first of which was very impressive, then there must be something about him as a player. A move to a Championship side is probably the right move for him at this point – somewhere that he can hopefully stand out in a team and run the show.
Although perhaps not Derby County with all the problems that they’re going through, ideally he should be going somewhere with a little more stability than that.
In other news: ‘I have to criticise’ – Pundit slams Bruce over ‘disgraceful’ treatment