Leeds United have reportedly had a third bid turned down for a Newcastle star, though there are contradictory reports on whether or not that has actually happened.
The Whites are embarking on their first Premier League campaign for three years in the coming season. They’ll want not to follow the trend in the last couple of seasons of each of the promoted sides going straight back down.
So far, they have clearly made an effort to make their side one capable of competing in the top flight. Leeds have signed two centre-backs and a left-back, in Sebastian Bornauw, Jaka Bijol and Gabriel Gudmundsson.
They also want to strengthen further up the field, and are looking at Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff – a 27-year-old with 171 appearances under his belt – to help their survival push.
Now said to have made three bids for him, multiple reports have suggested each have been turned down. The Northern Echo are one of the sites who suggest Newcastle are digging in their heels, rejecting an offer of £10million plus £2million in add-ons.
The report suggests the Whites will have to decide if they want to return to the negotiating table.
However, reports elsewhere contradict that, and suggest that Newcastle have in fact accepted Leeds’ latest offer.
Indeed, Chronicle Live stated the Magpies ‘have accepted’ the offer, with Longstaff now ‘mulling it over’ as he decided whether to call time on his Newcastle career.
The suggestion from the site is that Newcastle won’t stand in the way of Longstaff if he decides that his time at the club has come to its end.
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What’s more, pure profit coming in while the Magpies are about to land Anthony Elanga is seen as a good thing for the club.
A subsequent report from Chronicle Live on July 10 reinforces their information is that the offer has been accepted, and suggests that there’d have to be slight change made at Newcastle in terms of their Champions League squad.
Longstaff is currently the only ‘club-trained’ first-team player, not including under-21s, so if he were sold, to be in line with Champions League regulations, Newcastle would seemingly have to have some more players in that category in their squad.
It is suggested that they could look to re-sign Tim Krul or Fraser Forster in order to comply with UEFA regulations, with both players free agents who played in the Magpies’ academy.
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