The 21 year old English midfielder has impressed many in his debut season at Newcastle. He has had 13 appearances in all competitions and scored twice this season. Furthermore, he was shortlisted for the Premier League's Player of the Month Award for February.

His first senior team appearance was as a substitute at Anfield, in the 4-0 defeat in December. He then put in a memorable performance by winning the penalty that gave Newcastle a 2-1 win over Premier League Champions Manchester City in January. Unfortunately, his season came to a premature halt after he suffered a knee ligament injury against West Ham in March. According to the club last month, his recovery is going very well.

I feel Longstaff will be an essential part of the team next season and in the future. He has already demonstrated his quality and, at such a young age, I think he has the potential to do great things for this football club and to go down as a Newcastle United legend. At this moment in  particular, the club is in a bad way and needs someone like Longstaff to step up, give us hope and help us stay up. Therefore, I think it is vital that we keep Longstaff and help him to develop into a world class player.

There has been numerous reports recently of interest from Manchester United. Original reports suggested they were preparing to make a £25m bid and were confident they could get him. New reports are emerging suggesting Man U would be willing to increase this to £50m in order to secure the youngster.

Will he stay or will he go?

In my opinion, Longstaff will not leave Newcastle.

The club have stated Longstaff is not for sale and claim they have not received a bid. However, we all know what Ashley is like and he will do anything he can to deceive the fans. He is also a businessman and is only interested in the money he gains. Therefore, the club may well accept a deal from Manchester United.

However, I feel Longstaff would prefer to stay at NUFC and would reject the personal terms offered to him. Of course, if he was offered the £60k a week being suggested he may be tempted to accept the offer. But, staying at Newcastle would be better for his development and he would get much more game time. The competition at Manchester United would be much tougher and there are reports Man U are looking to bring in other midfielders as well as Longstaff, such as Bruno Fernandes. This would further decrease Longstaff's game time. Also, they would quickly find a world class replacement if he didn't perform at the top of his game consistently.In addition to this,

Longstaff will want to stay loyal to Newcastle, the club he has supported

since childhood, and the fans. It would be special for Longstaff if he could stay and benefit the club because he is a homegrown player and is adored by the fans. He will also want to remain on Tyneside with his family, including his brother who also plays for NUFC.

On the other hand, Longstaff will be concerned about the

lack of investment in the squad and also who the new manager will be. If a new manager was brought in who decided Longstaff didn't suit his style of play, then his game time and progress may be reduced significantly. However, I think this is unlikely to happen as Longstaff has already shown his wide range of skills and his abundance of quality, hence he has attracted interest from one of the biggest clubs in the world.

To conclude, I feel Longstaff will stay at Newcastle however there is still a chance he will leave for Manchester United.

Opinion