Man Utd have been told by Newcastle Utd owner Mike Ashley that rumoured transfer target Sean Longstaff will not be leaving Tyneside this summer.
The 21-year-old has only made a handful of Premier League appearances to date, but such has been the early impression that he has made, it had led to transfer speculation this summer.
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As noted by the Metro last week, new Magpies boss Steve Bruce has already spoken highly of the youngster who is said to be valued at £50m by the club as per the report, and it sounds as though he plans on giving him a key role in the new campaign.
Now to perhaps end all hope from a Man Utd perspective of being able to prise Longstaff away from their Premier League rivals, Ashley himself has ruled out the possibility of an exit in the coming weeks.
“The message we want to put out is that he is not for sale,” he told the Daily Mail. “If you’ve got one like Sean – keep him.”
That in turn is seemingly the biggest indication possible that Man Utd will have to look elsewhere to bolster their midfield, which in turn will be a disappointment for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Longstaff certainly looks like a classy prospect and would fit the mould of what he’s doing this summer in terms of buying young, homegrown players.
United saw Ander Herrera leave Old Trafford at the end of last month after his contract expired, and so while with the transfer deadline on August 8 fast approaching, they could either be forced to hand bigger roles to the likes of Scott McTominay and Andreas Pereira this season or give up on Longstaff and consider other possible reinforcements.
