Steve Bruce: 'Newcastle rejected colossal Manchester United offer for Sean Longstaff'
The 62-year-old ex-Red Devils defender spent just over two years in charge of Newcastle between July 2019 and October 2021, and mutually left the club shortly after the Saudi-backed takeover of the club was completed.
Bruce inherited Longstaff six months after predecessor Rafael Benitez had given the highly-rated academy graduate his senior debut, and it took just a handful of appearances before speculation emerged over a possible move to Man United.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was allegedly keen to lure Longstaff to Old Trafford in the summer of 2019 as one his first signings as permanent manager of the Red Devils, but Newcastle managed to fend off interest whilst Bruce was at the helm.
«I inherited Sean at a time where a big-money move to Manchester United was on the cards,» Bruce told The Mirror. «Newcastle were turning down a colossal amount of money, and that was swirling around at the time.»
Bruce has also claimed that Longstaff was «insistent» on joining Man United and believes that the midfielder has matured in recent years since his time in charge of the Magpies.
«Sean was recovering from an awful injury at the time (2019). He's entitled to his opinion, and he's shown maturity over the last couple of years,» said Bruce.
«We had him almost five years ago. He was a lot younger then, a lot of things were swirling around, and that was combined with a long-term injury.
»He's proven to be a very good player. Sean's move to Man United was never close. He was insistent that it was at one point, but I knew Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and [his assistant] Mike Phelan – it
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