Newcastle United journalist Mark Douglas has expressed his surprise after Matty Longstaff joined Colchester United on loan. 

The lowdown

Longstaff sealed a Deadline Day-move to the League Two outfit, joining on a loan deal that runs until January.

It's his third temporary move in the space of the year after he had spells with Scottish Premiership outfit Aberdeen and another fourth-tier outfit in Mansfield Town last season.

Longstaff will be looking to build upon the success he enjoyed at Mansfield, having scored six goals in 18 matches for the Stags.

Isaac Hayden, Jeff Hendrick, Martin Dubravka, Ciaran Clark and Kell Watts have also been sent out on loan by Newcastle.

The latest

Douglas, a northern football correspondent at The I Paper, offered his one-word reaction to Colchester's announcement tweet.

"Blimey," he wrote, indicating that he was left somewhat stunned by the development.

The verdict

You could certainly make the case that Longstaff will be indirectly playing for his Newcastle future at Colchester.

The midfielder is into the final year of his contract at St James' Park, and needs to prove that he's worthy of a new deal. If he can replicate what he did at Mansfield, then he'll surely be pretty well-placed.

Now that he's 22 years old, it's probably time for the Englishman to kick on and go to the next level. After all, he's only three years away from the theoretical peak of a player in his position (via The Athletic).

Having played 20 times already for the Newcastle senior team, Longstaff might not have envisaged being in this position at this stage.

Clearly, though, Eddie Howe still needs some convincing.