England eye NUFC duo - & Gareth Southgate a big fan of 'exciting' youngster - Report
According to The Athletic's Chris Waugh, Newcastle duo Isaac Hayden and Sean Longstaff are both being tracked by England ahead of a potential international call up.
There's no mention of Jamaal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey - two players who were tipped for a call up during impressive 2017/18 campaigns - however Southgate has recently confirmed that Freddie Woodman is one of the young goalkeepers on his radar, describing him as an 'exciting' talent.
As for Hayden and Longstaff, it's good to hear both are being rewarded for their performances over 2019.
While Longstaff's sudden rise from U-23 talent to first-team regular has been the story making the headlines, it's great to see Hayden is getting recognition for his outstanding displays this year.
He's arguably been our most consistent performer of 2019 and deserves to be knocking on Southgate's door - especially when the former Boro boss was regularly calling up the Jake Livermore's of this world not so long ago!
Longstaff has had a mixed start to the season and has shown some signs of ring rust after suffering a serious knee injury in March, but England won't have forgotten his stunning form earlier in the year.
Two players they seem to have forgotten about are Jamaal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey, however.
The skipper kept Harry Kane quiet in our superb 1-0 win at Spurs just a few weeks ago, but there's a feeling that his lack of ball playing skills could scupper his hopes of being called up by Southgate - no matter how well he defends. That said, there's hope for him yet if Villa's Tyrone Mings is getting a call after a few decent displays.
Then to Shelvey. We all know how talented he is, but the fact he wasn't called up during the back end of the 2017/18 season (when he was in the form of his life!) makes you wonder if he'll ever get another chance? Disciplinary issues are no longer a valid excuse, but his inconsistent form and inability to become a regular in our side doesn't exactly make him a valid candidate as thing stand.
