Former Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has revealed that Steven Gerrard wanted to take Sean Longstaff to Rangers last year.
Longstaff’s name was part of the rumour mill last summer when Manchester United were interested in taking him to Old Trafford as part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans.
Manchester United backed off after Newcastle quoted a £50m asking price and Longstaff has continued to impress in Steve Bruce’s side this season as well.
But Benitez claimed that Gerrard got in touch with him last year when Longstaff was yet to break into the first team and enquired about the possibility of taking him to Rangers.
The former Newcastle boss believes that his decision to rebuff the interest from Rangers revealed how highly he rated the young midfielder at that stage of his career.
Benitez told The Athletic: “In terms of the team he has picked to develop himself, I can’t say too much except that Rangers are a top side in Scotland and I’m sure it will be a great experience for him.
“We have kept in touch. Both of our lives are very busy and it isn’t about giving advice but we have had contact to talk football and to talk about players.
“In fact, in the summer of last year, Stevie called me about Sean Longstaff.
"Rangers were interested and he asked whether they could sign him on loan, but I told him ‘no’ — he’d be staying at Newcastle United.
“Some people have said, ‘Oh, Rafa was lucky because of Longstaff’ but we’d been watching him and we were happy with him, we played him in the first-team, supported him and gave him confidence.
“Turning Rangers down is proof of what we thought of Sean.”
Longstaff is a Newcastle academy product and a local boy, but it remains to be seen whether the Magpies continue to resist selling him if big clubs come calling for him next summer.
