Newcastle legend gives opinion on potential Sean Longstaff exit amid Spurs link

Newcastle United legend Rob Lee has told midfielder Sean Longstaff to remain on Tyneside and not to get tempted by a potential move away following reports of interest from Tottenham Hotspur.

Longstaff made an immediate impact when he broke into Newcastle’s first-team a couple of years ago but the midfielder’s development has stalled a bit since then, partially due to injury problems.

The Daily Mail reported earlier this month that the midfielder’s talks with Newcastle over a new deal had stalled and that the 23-year-old’s agent, Pini Zahavi had promised those close to the Magpies star that he would get him a move to Tottenham.

Longstaff’s current deal at St James’ Park runs out in the summer of 2022, and The Sunday Mirror on 6/12, page 74 claimed that Steve Bruce’s side have not given up hopes of getting him to commit his future at St James’ Park.

Lee told Longstaff that he should not be thinking about a move away from Newcastle just yet and suggested that it was perhaps the midfielder’s agent who was turning his head.

The former Newcastle midfielder told Football Fancast: “I’m very cynical when it comes to these sorts of things. I’m sure Longstaff, in my opinion, is potentially a top-class player. He’s come in and done very, very well.

“Don’t listen to people saying [they can] get you here. Get your head down and play football, you’re playing for the club you love. You’re young. All those things will come to you.

“I think players have to realise, actually, it’s not the agent that gets them the move, it’s the player that gets the move. If he plays badly, I don’t care who your agent is, if he plays terrible and he starts playing badly, then no one’s getting him a move.

“So, it’s up to him who is agent is, it’s up to him who he wants to go with but, for me, at the moment, for Sean Longstaff, he should stay, play for Newcastle. And if he wants to move later in his career when he’s done really, really well, then [fine].

“It just seems to me that young players break into a team, and all of a sudden somebody wants to move on and cash-in. I don’t mean the clubs, and I don’t mean the player, I mean agents. So, I don’t know [if he will leave], I’m very sceptical of these sorts of things.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Zahavi has a good relationship with the Tottenham hierarchy, having played an important part in the club’s acquisition of Jose Mourinho last year. So, there could be some truth to this report. However, conversely, it could also be the agent driving potentially throwing our name in the mix in order to get his client a significant pay rise.

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know