Newcastle will regret not selling this player when his value was highest

Hindsight shows that Newcastle United should have moved this player for a major profit when they had a chance.

Typically, when there is transfer interest in one of your young players, you want to hold onto them a little bit longer to increase their value. But, sometimes, a player will decrease their value as they continue to play and you miss out on a major payday. For Newcastle United, they find themselves in the second situation.

During the 2018-19 season, Sean Longstaff burst onto the scene for the Magpies. He stepped into the midfield out of necessity and the NUFC youth product far exceeded expectations. Despite a significant knee injury ending his season, Longstaff had put himself on the map in the Premier League.

That following offseason, Manchester United were heavily linked with a move for the young central midfielder. There were rumors that they were comfortable paying 30+ million for him. But, Newcastle United reportedly had his value roughly at 50 million.

No deal came to fruition and since then, Longstaff has simply continued to decrease his value. He admitted to being distracted by the transfer rumors with Man Utd and also was recovering from a major injury. But, his performances were often tough to watch last season and he was actually overshadowed by his younger brother, Matty. While he isn’t as bad this year, there’s rarely been any sign of the player we saw back in 18/19.

It would have been a risky, and likely unpopular, move to sell him that summer to Manchester United, but looking back now, it would have been a heist on Newcastle’s side as they would’ve capitalized on a brief positive run from Longstaff and secured a massive transfer profit.