Rafa Benitez 'postpones' transfer after player impresses him over pre-season
According to the Chronicle's Lee Ryder, Rafa Benitez has 'postponed' Sean Longstaff's proposed loan move to Portsmouth after impressing the Spaniard so far during pre-season.
It's stated that the deal has only been put on hold 'for now', however it seems Benitez is now keen to see more of the 20-year-old over the next few weeks of pre-season.
This should come as no surprise given his performance in Tuesday night's 2-0 win over St Patrick's Athletic, with the midfielder being our strand out player on the night - also scoring the opener with an impressive low finish on his first start for the senior side.
Here's what Lee Ryder's had to say on the situation:
https://twitter.com/lee_ryder/status/1019675671705071616
So, it looks like Rafa wants to see more of him before making any decision.
A wise move. I doubt Benitez is considering him for first-team selection ahead of the new season, however he may well be looking at him believing he's ready for a loan move to the Championship - not a season back in League One, which a season with Portsmouth would represent.
Hopefully he can keep impressing, land himself a Championship loan move and break into Benitez's first-team set up before long.
Based on everything I've seen over the past few years, I don't see why he couldn't make the step up.
https://twitter.com/NUFC/status/1019551771981729793
