Sean Longstaff, who was a summer target for Manchester United, has admitted to being affected of talks of a £50 million move to Old Trafford.
In an interview with NUFC TV, as quoted by Daily Mail, Sean Longstaff has confessed that talks of a mega-money move to Manchester United in the summer transfer window left him distracted. The Newcastle United midfielder had been heavily linked with a £50 million switch to Old Trafford this past summer.
Sean Longstaff saw an upsurge in his stock at the tail end of last season, even though he had only appeared a handful of times for Newcastle United in what was his debut campaign with the senior side. In fact, he had left such a lasting impact that Manchester United were reportedly interested in signing him this past summer.
But, as per widespread reports all through the summer transfer window, the Red Devils seemed to be at odds with Newcastle over the valuation of the player. While the Magpies wanted £50 million in exchange for the 21-year-old, Manchester United were reluctant to shell out anywhere near the demanded figure.
Even as talks of a transfer was gathering steam, Longstaff maintained that he was focused on his football instead of being distracted by speculation surrounding his future. But, the player has now admitted that the transfer talk did affect him.
Speaking to NUFC TV (h/t Daily Mail), Longstaff said, “You can sometimes get distracted by the outside noise and maybe for a little bit in the summer I was a bit. It’s hard not to whenever you go anywhere you see your face on the front of a newspaper and you turn the telly on people are talking about you.”
“And it’s not like they’re talking about little things, they’re talking about things that can change your life really. The expectation is half what I’ve done and it’s probably a good thing. It does just go to show I did impress people when I got my chance last year. So for me it’s about not listening to them and sticking to what I do.”
Midfield does seem to be an area that Manchester United neglected in the summer. With Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera departing from Old Trafford in 2019, the duo’s void has not been replenished, especially with Nemanja Matic being phased out and Fred seemingly out of favour.
In such a scenario, Longstaff might have been a costly miss for Manchester United in the summer transfer window, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer visibly lacking reliable options in midfield. But. any new reinforcements will only arrive in the January window at the earliest.
For now, it is clear that Longstaff’s slow start to the season could be a direct result of the transfer talk over a possible Manchester United switch that dragged on till the final days of the summer.
