Sean Longstaff Was Newcastle's Most Important Player And I Am Deadly Serious

Just probably not in the way you're thinking.

This past week, the conversation around Newcastle United’s transfer strategy turned, quite violently, from who might be coming in… to who might be going out.

In particular, speculation grew around a man who has been the club’s most important player since Eddie Howe arrived back in 2021. Reports of a bid from another Premier League side floated around, before counter-claim suggested that it had been knocked back.

Many wondered about the implications. Would the fee being quoted not, in fact, represent a real chance for the owners to reinvest this summer? Would it alleviate a degree of the PSR concerns and allow them to push ahead with strengthening the squad for what will be another grueling season of European football? What would Newcastle United even look like without him?

But it happened. A fee was successfully agreed for Sean Longstaff, and by the weekend he was formally unveiled as a Leeds United player.

Oh, sorry, you thought…? No, not Isak.

Now I appreciate there may be a degree of whiplash for you there, given the words “Sean Longstaff” and “most important player” are about six sentences apart. If you’re a Newcastle fan, chances are you think that’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever read and, if you’re not, you maybe still do. In a side with elite talent like Bruno Guimarães, Sandro Tonali, and Anthony Gordon, and cast-iron mainstays like Fabian Schär, Joelinton, and Kieran Trippier, a man who concluded last season with a grand total of zero goals in eight starts probably doesn’t feel like he falls into the ‘vital’ column.

And you’re right, Sean Longstaff is not how you build a team. But he is how you build a club. It is of critical importance to me that I explain the difference to you.