Why Joe Willock may not be the only Mag closing in on an England call-up…

Sean Longstaff is having his breakout season. After bursting onto the scene under Rafa Benitez, the homegrown midfielder has been in and out of the team. This has been caused by mixed form and injuries. However, he has now played 2353 minutes in the Premier League. His previous most in a single campaign came in 2021/22 when he accrued 1461 minutes.

It is a significant increase and underlines the consistency in Longstaff’s game. Perhaps the best display of his importance to Newcastle this season was last weekend. He had to be benched for the trip to Aston Villa due to a bout of illness and the team delivered their worst performance of the season. It is too simplistic to suggest it was purely due to the midfielder’s absence, but it was telling.

There is a lot of talk about Joe Willock being called up for England. There is no doubt that the former Arsenal man should be in the thoughts of Gareth Southgate, but he isn’t the only midfielder at St James’ Park that deserves a call-up. Longstaff should be firmly in the manager’s mind and there is an argument to be made that he might be a better stylistic fit for the Three Lions.

In the previous two England fixtures, Southgate started with a midfield three. Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham are automatic starters. They were in the starting eleven against both Italy and Ukraine. Kalvin Phillips played in Naples, while Jordan Henderson played the latter fixture. That is the spot in the starting eleven that is up for grabs.

Phillips is trusted by Southgate, but he has hardly kicked a ball for Manchester City. Henderson is experienced, but he is getting towards the final years of his career and doesn’t have the consistency that he once had. The fact that they each played one game suggests Southgate isn’t completely sold on either being the long-term solution ahead of the Euros next summer.

Willock is an excellent midfielder with a great engine and a lot of quality in the final third. This season, he has contributed three goals and five assists. The assist for Alexander Isak was incredible. There is a growing clamour for him to get international honours. His main issue might be Jude Bellingham. The Borussia Dortmund midfielder is the young star of the England team and there are stylistic similarities with Willock. It is doubtful that Southgate will want two in that mould. As a squad player, Willock should absolutely be in contention.

Meanwhile, Longstaff feels like a more conservative option and is comparable with Phillips and Henderson. He covers a lot of ground and helps Kieran Trippier a lot defensively. Under Eddie Howe, he has developed his tactical understanding of the game. On a weekly basis, he can be seen popping up as a number eight; covering for Bruno Guimaraes in a deeper role; and on the right as an auxiliary full-back helping Trippier.

It feels like we now have the midfielder that broke out under Benitez again. Manchester United wanted to sign him, as he was compared with Michael Carrick and seen as a player with huge potential. That is starting to be seen on the pitch.

Joe Willock deserves the discussions in the media touting him for an England call. By the same token, so does Sean Longstaff. Central midfield is a weak area of depth for the national team. We have two fantastic ones performing for a team in the top four.  

Southgate – give these lads a chance.