According to Lee Ryder, there are ‘concerns’ in the Matty Longstaff camp about the opportunities he’ll get to progress from a 19-year-old talent to first-team regular at Newcastle United – suggesting this is complicating contract talks.
This comes after fans asked for an update on the youngster’s contract situation during the Chronicle’s latest Q&A session, which saw him touch on Matty’s concerns over first-team football – something he’s not had for weeks as this contract saga continues to drag on.
Here’s what Ryder shared when asked about the local lad’s future:
‘I get the feeling Newcastle will get one last chance to sit down and talk with the midfielder.
‘But there are concerns over his development and whether he can progress from a 19-year-old England youth international into a regular top-class player who gets a game every week.
‘Can Newcastle guarantee that? He’s not kicked a ball for weeks.‘
Considering he’s one of our brightest young talents and the only player over the past year who’s proven himself to be capable of stepping up from U-23 level, it must be a slight concern that he’s no longer making Bruce’s match day squads.
He now appears to be our fifth choice midfielder, with Shelvey, Hayden, Bentaleb and brother Sean all ahead of him in the current pecking order.
That said, he must know that it will take time to win over Bruce’s trust and develop into a competent player capable of starting every week – but the fact we’ve seen a rusty Nabil Bentaleb immediately replace him may not have gone down too well.
Let’s hope both parties can meet in the middle and get this situation sorted out ASAP.
After all, now’s the perfect chance for both parties to get something agreed with us expecting no more football for the foreseeable future!
