Sean Longstaff started his fifth Premier League game as Newcastle United battled to a 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night.
It is not often Newcastle United fans disagree with Alan Shearer. But the legendary number nine has found himself in the bad books of some supporters after omitting the impressive Sean Longstaff from his latest Team of the Week.
The 21-year-old midfielder has forced his way into Rafa Benitez’s starting XI since the turn of the year, raising hope that he could be the first locally born talent to become a Newcastle regular since the days of Steven Taylor.
Longstaff has started the Magpies’ last five Premier League games and produced arguably his finest performance yet against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
The North Shields native was a composed and classy presence in the centre of the park, showcasing his impressive passing range and arguably outshining the much vaunted Wolves duo of Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho. Suddenly, those comparisons with fellow Geordie Michael Carrick do not seem too wide of the mark.
But, despite praising Longstaff’s performance on Twitter after the game, Shearer obviously felt that Paul Pogba and Gini Wijnaldum were worthy of a place in his Team of the Week instead – much to the chagrin of the Tyneside natives.
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