Newcastle star Sean Longstaff admits £50m Man Utd transfer talk ‘distracted’ him
TALK of a mega money move to Manchester United took a toll on Sean Longstaff's performances, the Newcastle midfielder has confessed.
An immense run of form during the youngster's breakout campaign earned him many plaudits but Longstaff admits he hasn't discovered his best since the new season began.
United were heavily linked with a £50million bid for the Englishman during the off-season.
And despite being flattered by the links at the time, Longstaff acknowledges that he took his eye off the ball.
Speaking to Newcastle's official website, he 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."
Longstaff missed the European Under-21 Championship due to a knee injury and was even dropped for Newcastle's ill-fated trip to Norwich on the second matchday of the new Premier League season.
That may have served as a wake-up call to up his game and the player is still learning to be selective when it comes to reading about himself.
He noted: “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.
"I speak to Matt Ritchie a lot, he’s someone I lean on in the squad. He tends to keep us grounded and he’s always there with good bits of advice."
Such is the transfer market's rapid expansion that a 21-year-old who had only played nine top-flight games was suddenly worth £50m.
And Longstaff admits that the huge figure did get stuck inside his head.
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He continued: “Sometimes you can get distracted by figures that are thrown out there and you’re doing things you wouldn’t normally try to do.
"I think I spoke to him about it and he said the reason people are speaking about you is because of what you did and keep everything so simple and ticking along and you’ve got the other stuff there if you need it.
“I’m not back to where I was last year but I’m getting closer and closer and I think it’s just about working hard and getting back to that level.
"The outside noise is something I try not to listen to. It’s always going to be there now – there’ll be more eyes on me now.”