Name: Sean Longstaff

Club: Newcastle United

Date of Birth: 30 October 1997

Position: Midfielder (Central/Attacking)

Sean Longstaff - his career so far

Sean David Longstaff is the older of the two Longstaff brothers who are currently plying their trade at Newcastle United in the Premier League. Just like his brother, Matthew Ben Longstaff, the 22-year-old midfielder has been a life-long fan of the Magpies and has joined the club at an early age, advancing through the ranks of their academy and making it on the big stage.

Sean and Ben are the sons of David Longstaff, a former ice hockey player for Great Britain who was capped over 100 times for the national team before retiring from the professional scene in the year of 2013.

Even though the older Longstaff brother has been at Newcastle for a bit longer than his younger sibling, his road towards the senior team under Steve Bruce has been somewhat different from Matthew’s.

Both brothers spent some time playing for the Magpies’ development squads but the older brother was also sent out on loan before he would return a more developed and mature player, slotting into the first-team squad at the beginning of 2019.

Longstaff played just two documented games for Newcastle’s U18 squad before making a jump into the U23s where he featured for a total of 46 games, scoring nine goals and assisting nine more in the process as well.

But in January 2017, he went on a loan to Kilmarnock and ended up registering 17 appearances in Scotland and rattling the inside of the opposition’s net three times. Upon returning to Tyneside, his signature was in demand once again so he signed for Blackpool on loan at the start of the 2017/18 campaign, registering 45 appearances in League One and netting nine goals and six assists along the way.

Sean made his competitive first-team debut against Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup in August 2018 and just a few months later, he would also make his Premier League bow coming on as a second-half substitute against Liverpool at Anfield in December 2018.

Since then, he’s made a total of 39 senior team appearances, even bagging three goals and three assists under his belt as well.

Transfer latest

One of the big Newcastle United news coming out of the camp concerning both Longstaff brothers was the transfer rumour that they are potentially looking to hire the superagent Pini Zahavi in an attempt to resolve their futures.

The transfer news stated the negotiations for their new contracts has hit a brick wall recently and getting a new agent in would likely help to solve that problem. Sean, however, has a contract running until 2022 while his younger brother’s expires this summer.

It still seems that Newcastle want both homegrown talents to stay but recent updates suggest no real breakthrough has been made in the last couple of months. As things currently stand, both of their futures are still up in the air.

Player profile

Even though both Longstaff brothers are midfielders by trade, Sean likes to operate higher up the pitch, often slotting just behind the striker and being that creative link between the middle and the final third of the pitch.

He is very comfortable on the ball and can cause some real danger in and around the opposition’s box, both through his passing and shooting over a longer distance. But his defensive output should also not be disregarded.

Longstaff can be deployed in a deeper role where he will use his work rate and energy to break the opposition’s attacks and restart his own, often tackling and intercepting his counterparts. Even though he is playing in a Newcastle team that doesn’t thrive on possession or is that attacking-minded in the first place, Longstaff is often the one to inject them with some purpose and drive.

But being versatile enough to cover multiple spots in midfield is a trait not many possess and something Bruce can certainly use in his team.