Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe wants to tie Sean Longstaff down to a new contract. 

The lowdown

Having come through the youth ranks at Newcastle, the North Shields-born midfielder made his senior debut in August 2018 (via nufc.co.uk). Less than four years on, he's only seven short of a century of appearances for the Magpies.

The £11.7million-rated 24-year-old was due to be out of contract at the end of the season.

As he contemplates whether to sign on the dotted line, he's may need assurances over playing time next season. Longstaff has made 22 Premier League appearances, 13 of them starts, so far this term.

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The latest

The Chronicle's Lee Ryder relayed an update on Longstaff on Twitter on Thursday evening.

"Eddie Howe hoping to complete [a] deal for [the] midfielder," he wrote.

In the attached story, he explains that Newcastle actually opened negotiations over the contract in 2019, but they stalled.

Longstaff apparently has other offers, but Howe wants to keep him at St James' Park with a four-year commitment.

The verdict

It was looking a little bleak for Longstaff's Newcastle future early in Howe's reign.

He played 19 minutes of the manager's first game against Brentford, but watched the next five from the sidelines.

However, he's featured in 11 of the 19 matches since then and though that may not be quite the level of involvement he'd ideally like, it does show his value as a squad player.

Indeed, Howe and the club hierarchy may have decided that replacing Longstaff, who would be leaving on a free, would needlessly consume a portion of their summer transfer budget.

He's a highly capable of midfielder himself, winning praise from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and Ryder, who dubbed him 'fantastic'.

In other news, Luke Edwards rages over this Newcastle leak.