After weekend reports claimed Matty Longstaff is now ‘ready to leave’, Lee Ryder has shared an update on the midfielder’s future – but sadly, it’s not particularly reassuring.
This comes after TEAMtalk reported on Sunday that the 20-year-old is now looking at his options after talks over a new deal continued to stall.
Speaking during a recent Q&A for the Chronicle, Ryder confirmed that talks ‘remain deadlocked‘, claiming there’s a deal for him on the table – but that his agent believes it’s not ‘up to scratch’ based on what ‘others of his age and potential are earning‘.
Not only that, he insists that there’s a ‘BIG offer‘ on the table from an unnamed European side and fears he’ll leave in July if Newcastle refuse to budge on their current offer.
Here’s what Lee Ryder’s had to say:
‘The situation remains deadlocked and Matty Longstaff has been overlooked for a few months now in the first time, his absence on the pitch coinciding with his unsigned contract.
‘Newcastle insist there is a deal for him but the player’s agent says it is not up to scratch compared to what others his age and of his potential are earning.
‘As I reported a while back, there is a BIG offer on the table from a European club.
‘If there is no budging from NUFC, he could well leave in July.‘
I’d love to know what the club are actually offering him at this stage.
He’s yet to fully prove himself, so any wage package that makes him one of our top 10 earners would be wrong, however the club must recognise the fact he’s now broken into Steve Bruce’s first-team squad.
Not only that, he’s become an England U-20 international, hasn’t looked out of place when he’s featured this season and has bagged 3 goals in the process – a tally that’s only been bettered by Shelvey and Almiron all season.
He may well have an agent in his ear that’s pushing his luck, but it would be an absolute travesty to lose one of our brightest young talents – especially when we’ve seen so few burst into our first-team over the years.
