Newcastle United increase Matty Longstaff wage offer in hope he rejects Udinese move

Newcastle United have increased their contract offer to midfielder Matty Longstaff in a bid to persuade him to reject a move to Italian club Udinese.

The younger of the Longstaff brothers had initially been offered around £15,000-a-week to sign a new five-year contract, but his head has been turned by an extravagant package from Udinese which would make him the Serie A side’s highest paid player on £30,000-a-week.

It is also believed the deal in Italy would see the player and his family receive a large signing-on fee worth more than £2 million.

The 20-year-old, who has started just six Premier League games for his hometown club, currently earns just £850-a-week and contract talks have dragged on for several months.

Telegraph Sport has learned that Newcastle have now increased their offer and are willing to pay him more than £20,000-a-week.

However, as things stand, this has also been rejected by the youngster and his advisers, which include his father, the former Great Britain ice hockey international David Longstaff.

The suspicion is that although Longstaff will initially move to Italy, he will eventually join Premier League club Watford, who are also owned by the Pozzo family, potentially as soon as January 2021.

This is because Udinese will have to pay less in compensation to Newcastle as he will be moving abroad, than Watford would have to pay in compensation if he were to move directly to another English club.

However, there has been no indication from Watford at this stage that they are interested in the player and he could remain in Italy for the length of the five-year contract he will sign.

The transfer could follow a similarly controversial pattern as the one that took the 16-year-old England youth international Louie Barry from West Bromwich Albion to Barcelona last summer. The Spanish club were required to pay just £235,000 for the youngster – a figure set by Fifa for 16-year-olds who move abroad.

Barry has since returned to England, signing for Aston Villa for £880,000 in January. West Brom, meanwhile, were forced to report the case to Fifa in December as Barcelona had not paid the £235,000.

It remains to be seen what Longstaff’s long-term prospects in Italy would be if he does sign for Udinese, but he will be free agent at the end of June, with Newcastle due just £400,000 in compensation, even though the Premier League season will not have finished.

If Matty does change course and sign the contract on offer at Newcastle, he will be paid more than his older brother Sean, who will also demand a new contract on the same terms.

Neither have been first choice in midfield this season and Newcastle intend to sign at least one more central midfielder in the summer as this is a position manager Steve Bruce has publicly revealed he is keen to address.

The situation has been complicated by the ongoing attempt by a Saudi Arabian led consortium’s attempt to complete a £300m takeover of the club.

Telegraph Sport has been told that the prospective new owners are aware of the Longstaff situation and believe the offer made to him is a fair and reasonable one.

However, it could be that both brothers are worried about a lack of first-team football next season, whether the takeover goes through or not.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust has written to the club to complain about the lack of communication other the refund of season tickets with the Premier League campaign set to resume behind closed doors.

Direct debit payments have continued to be taken out of bank accounts for next season, even though it is not clear if supporters will be allowed inside stadiums to watch games.

It is another issue exacerbated by the takeover limbo but NUST have accused the club of a “dereliction of duty” in failing to respond to queries.

The letter read: “We understand the club finds itself in a complex situation in light of the prospective sale of the club by the incumbent owner. That does not give you a legitimate right to a dereliction of duty to your supporters…

“We have previously contacted Newcastle United to express our concerns at the lack of action by Newcastle United to assist its supporters in a time of need during this unprecedented global health and economic crisis.

“Newcastle fans should not find themselves in a situation where they are concerned about what is going to happen with their money, which they are entitled to.”