Newcastle United got their pre-season campaign off to a promising start, and Sean Longstaff certainly impressed.
A number of Newcastle fans have taken to Twitter to comment on Sean Longstaff’s performance during the Magpies’ first friendly of pre-season which ended in a 2-0 win over St Patrick’s Athletic.
Rafa Benitez has had to endure a fairly quiet start to the summer, with three new signings through the door – two of which were at the club during the second-half of last season – and that allowed the Spaniard to use a handful of youngsters in the game at Richmond Park.
Longstaff was one of those who was given a chance to impress and he certainly took the opportunity with both hands. The 20-year-old is still awaiting his first-team debut for Newcastle in a competitive game, but has impressed a number of supporters with his loan spells at Kilmarnock and Blackpool.
The Chronicle reported in June that he was set to leave the club temporarily once again this summer, with Portsmouth looking to agree a six-month loan deal. But perhaps Benitez may now want to rethink any plans to let the midfielder leave during this window.
Longstaff broke the deadlock in Dublin with an excellent finish during the first-half and many of the fans felt that he was the best player on the pitch on Tuesday night as Newcastle got off to a promising start.
The fans are not getting carried away with Longstaff of course, but many feel that his display suggested that Benitez should hand him more opportunities during the coming weeks, and perhaps keeping him at St James’ Park for the coming season may actually prove to be the best move for his development.
Here is what some of the Newcastle fans made of Longstaff’s display…
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