Leeds United told to sign £20m Newcastle United star ahead of rivals who is ‘Absolutely Perfect’ for Daniel Farke
Carlton Palmer has urged Leeds United to sign Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff ahead of Leicester City this summer in a deal worth up to £20m.
The central midfielder has been a key member of Eddie Howe’s squad this season, but the Magpies face being forced to sell this summer as they look to avoid breaching any FFP rules.
That has opened the door to Longstaff leaving as he is an academy product, meaning his entire fee would be regarded as profit, and speaking to Football League World (23 April) Palmer urged the Whites to sign him as he is “absolutely perfect” for Daniel Farke’s side.
“Leicester City have joined the race with Leeds United for the signature of Sean Longstaff from Newcastle United,” he said.
“Eddie Howe has come out and said that he’s a big admirer of Sean, and he would not want to let him go. But in terms of rebuilding at the football club and pushing on, if they got an offer of around £15-20 million pounds, they would not be averse to letting him go.
“Both Leicester and Leeds are vying to get promoted back to the Premier League. Leicester have a problem with fair play, and they may have to sell Dewsbury-Hall, who they have slapped a £40 million price tag on.
“So if they sold Dewsbury-Hall because they have to fall in line with the fair play, then Sean Longstaff would be a fantastic replacement. Both of those clubs would only have a real chance of signing Longstaff if they were in the Premier League, both are bang on course for being in the Premier League.
“Which would be the best fit for the way that he plays? I think he would be more suited to be playing under Daniel Farke at Leeds United. The way that he plays and the way that Daniel likes to play, I think he would be a fan favourite at Leeds.
“They love a player who can get around the pitch and gets tackles in and shows some energy. So I think Leeds United would be an absolutely perfect move for him.”
Leeds United need midfield reinforcements
It’s clear that if Leeds are to get promoted to the Premier League this summer, then they will be in need of some midfield reinforcements for the top flight.
At the start of the season Daniel Farke had four great options in Glen Kamara, Archie Gray, Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev, with Jamie Shackleton able to fill in where necessary too.
But as the season has gone on Gray has become more of a right-back, Ampadu has become first-choice centre-back and Shackleton has fallen out of favour almost entirely.
That means new options will be needed in the role, and Longstaff would bring Premier League know-how as well as Champions League experience to a side that is very young and still learning.
With so many exits expected too among the players currently on loan, the Whites should have money to spend and spending a chunk of the budget on Longstaff would be a really shrewd bit of business.
In other Leeds news, Patrick Bamford is expected to be axed by Farke in the predicted XI to face QPR.
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