Newcastle United youngster Sean Longstaff has admitted he was well aware of the transfer speculation linking him with Manchester United over the course of the Premier League transfer window in the summer.

The 21-year-old was wanted by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Red Devils, but Newcastle were not ready to sell and the Old Trafford giants were unprepared to put in an offer to change the Magpies' stance.   

 



Longstaff has since gone on to establish himself in new manager Steve Bruce's side, featuring in all four league games so far this season.

The midfielder admits he was more than aware of the transfer chatter, but there was little he could do about it, telling Newcastle's official site: "Obviously there was speculation and stuff that was out of my control, the outside noise you can’t really control. "
 


The Newcastle talent is now looking to kick on over the coming months and believes that in Isaac Hayden and Jonjo Shelvey he has two good players to try to emulate.
 



"In terms of being more established in the team I’d like to think I am but obviously there’s more work to be done in terms of where Isaac, Jonjo are and how successful they’ve been.

"The next step is to fully established myself. Looking back, it was about looking in on the squad and getting on the bench now and then.
 

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"Now it’s week on week [starting] and to hopefully start as many games as I can.

"I think I’m in a much stronger position now", Longstaff added.

Newcastle face a tough test this weekend when a trip to European champions Liverpool on the agenda, before they then play host to Graham Potters' Brighton side at St James' Park the following weekend.