Newcastle fans are excited about midfielder Sean Longstaff.
Former Blackpool manager Gary Bowyer has told the Newcastle United official website that he is excited about Sean Longstaff’s future – and wants to see him emulate Manchester United defender Phil Jones.
The Magpies have had problems bringing through players from their academy in recent years, but midfielder Longstaff is certainly one of the most promising youngsters to come through of late.
Longstaff, 20, was born on Tyneside and has come up through the Newcastle ranks, impressing many whilst featuring out on loan with Kilmarnock and Blackpool.
Last term, the playmaker hit nine goals in 45 games for Blackpool, earning a pre-season opportunity under Rafael Benitez at Newcastle – and he is now in and around the Magpies first team.
Longstaff earned his first senior start for Newcastle in the Carabao Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest last month, and he will now be looking to build on that over the coming months.
One man who is a huge fan of Longstaff is ex-Blackpool boss Bowyer, who signed the Magpies talent last summer and gave him a starring role at Bloomfield Road.
Bowyer has now told the Newcastle United official website that he is delighted to see how Longstaff has developed over pre-season, and even suggested that he wants to see him emulate another player he worked with – ex-Blackburn Rovers defender Phil Jones.
“He came in and scored some wonderful goals – you put some of them on Twitter! He’s got fantastic ability and he’s a fantastic lad as well. He wants to get better and that was the big thing about him; he was always looking to improve, always in the office looking at his clips for ways he could get better,” said Bowyer. “Personally, as a coach and as a manager, I’m delighted to see the progress he’s made in pre-season. I was fortunate enough to be in Nottingham two weeks ago and watched him make his debut there. The last time I saw one of the players that I’d worked with make his debut was Phil Jones, at Forest ironically, so if he can go and do what Phil Jones has done then he’ll be alright!
“But on a serious note, he’s got a lot of talent and he’s got a good family behind him that really support him and push him. And working with Rafa Benítez, he’s got a great opportunity to improve his game even further now. Hopefully he breaks through and becomes a regular for Newcastle,” he added.
That desire to see Longstaff emulate Manchester United’s Jones may seem bizarre, but Bowyer did work with him at Blackburn, and whilst Jones may be joked about a lot, he has ultimately won a Premier League title, a Europa League title and an FA Cup, as well as making nearly 200 Premier League appearances and earning 27 England caps; accolades Longstaff would certainly celebrate if he could boast them in a few years.
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