According to the Daily Star, Man Utd are set to make a new move for Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff in January.
Jeremy Cross’ ‘exclusive’ also claims that Ed Woodward is confident Mike Ashley would cash in at ‘around £40m’ – suggesting the club may be ready to lower their demands after previously slapping a £55m asking price on his head over the summer.
Here’s a snippet from the Daily Star’s latest piece, suggesting the Red Devils will sanction a £90m double deal for Lyon’s Moussa Dembele and Sean Longstaff:
‘United also want to add some steel to their midfield and are preparing to launch a fresh bid to land rising Magpies star Longstaff.
‘Longstaff, 21, has only made eight Premier League appearances due to a succession of injuries, but has been earmarked as a future England international.
‘United enquired about Longstaff in the summer but were put off by the Magpies’ asking price of around £55m.
‘But Woodward believes the current crisis on Tyneside could persuade the troubled club to cash in on Longstaff in January and agree to sell him for around £40m.‘
Longstaff hasn’t looked anything like a £40m player this season, with him visibly struggling to regain the form that saw him burst into Rafa Benitez’s plans earlier this year, but to sell him in the new year would be absolutely criminal from a Newcastle United perspective.
He’s not long returned from a serious knee injury and has been part of a woeful Steve Bruce side that has made life difficult for several usually consistent first-team stars.
It would be devastating to lose him – no matter how out of sorts he’s looked so far this season – however I have my doubts over this story.
Now we’ve seen him not look the same player over the first 7 games of the new campaign (keep in mind he only played 9 times last season), are Man Utd really going to shell out £40m on him?
If Sean has any sense he would go to Manure as Steve Bruce would “brucey” him! In that Sean would not benefit from Bruce’s coaching skills. Also being in a struggling team week in, week out will erode his confidence. Only the mediocre will stay as wages are to good to pass up rather than having to play football in a league equal to their skills.
LA Toon(Quote)