Newcastle earned a comfortable 2-0 win over Burnley on Tuesday night.
Martin Keown has told BT Sport that he reckons Newcastle United’s excellent up-and-coming midfielder is better than that of West Ham United star Declan Rice.
Longstaff, 21, has broken into the Newcastle side of late, starring at the base of Rafa Benitez’s midfield where the likes of Jonjo Shelvey would normally feature. He has earned the praise of fans, pundits and Benitez himself.
The youngster is developing some serious momentum in his young career, and he continued that with his first Premier League goal for Newcastle on Tuesday night in a 2-0 win over Burnley.
It prompted former England and Arsenal defender Martin Keown to make a big claim while covering the match on BT Sport, claiming he is better than West Ham star Rice – who was valued at £50million by the Daily Mail earlier this year.
“This has been a Michael Carrick type performance by Longstaff. A lot of people are talking about Declan Rice at West Ham, but I think this lad might be better,” Keown said.
Longstaff has only played 12 times for Newcastle’s senior side, whereas Rice has five times that – having managed 60 appearances in all competitions. The latter’s impressive emergence has seen him answer Gareth Southgate’s call.
Indeed, Southgate has a big decision to make when picking his England side to take on the Czech Republic and Montenegro at the end of the month in the 2020 European Championship qualifiers.
Perhaps, Longstaff or Rice may get a slot, though they have plenty of competition in the likes of Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Fabian Delph, Harry Winks and many more.
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