Former Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez was pleased to see Matty Longstaff scoring on his Premier League debut against Manchester United.
Benitez has praised Steve Bruce for keeping faith in Matty Longstaff and gave him the start in a crucial game against Manchester United at St James’ Park.
The Magpies won 1-0 against the Red Devils where the 19-year-old youngster scored a brilliant goal from outside the penalty box.
Benitez wrote in his personal blog this week that the emergence of Sean and Matty Longstaff only suggests that the Magpies should heavily invest in the youth set up.
He added that it was good to see that so many Geordies played together against United. The former Liverpool boss feels that Newcastle should continue to invest in the youth set up so that good players like Matty and Sean can come up through the ranks.
Writing in his blog, Benitez said: “I was really pleased to see Matty Longstaff scoring the winning goal for Newcastle; he was great when he was training with us and it was a good decision from Steve Bruce to make him play.
“I was also happy to see a few Geordies playing together at the same time; Carroll, Sean and Matty; surely it shouldn’t be difficult to see the benefits of investing in the Academy?
“£4m every year for 10 years means £40m (one player); one ‘Longstaff’ every year for ten years seems good business to me.”
Indeed, Benitez has a valid point here. Unless there is a change in ownership, Newcastle are unlikely to ever be a club that can compete financially with the elite clubs in England.
In that case, it is essential to have a solid academy structure where young players can step up to the first-team squad and eventually result in huge profit if they’re sold elsewhere.
Newcastle have now moved out of the drop zone following their win against Manchester United. They will face Chelsea next in the Premier League after the international break.
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