MY MAM TELLS ME TO GET OFF MY XBOX!

Sean Longstaff on living at home, his rapid rise and going ‘numb’ when Toon fans sing his name

SEAN LoNgstAff is revisiting the moment he met Newcastle United’s academy coaches to discuss his first professional contract. Except, there was no professional contract. they did not think he was good enough.

that was less than three years ago. today, the 21-year-old is one of the most talked about young footballers in the country and is being touted for England.

He will learn this week if he has beaten the likes of Paul Pogba and sergio Aguero to the february Player of the Month prize, but he will also discover the extent of the knee injury which forced him off at West Ham on saturday.

He will visit a specialist today and there remains hope that the problem will keep him out for days as opposed to weeks. If it’s the latter, he will cope. setbacks have served as motivation before.

‘I remember the Under 23s coaches saying, “You’re not one of the top players, we’re only going to give you a scholarship”,’ says the midfielder, who joined his hometown club aged seven. ‘I was 18, I wanted to be a first-year pro. I had an opinion of myself but theirs was different. It wasn’t nice to hear, it p****s you off a bit.

‘It wasn’t about the money. saying that, I went on loan to Kilmarnock on £300 a week — after tax and stuff I literally had nothing left.

‘But it motivated me. I wanted to look back and say to those coaches, “You’re wrong, I’ll be the one who kicks on and makes it”. only I could change that opinion.’

Longstaff has certainly done that. As for opinion of him now, the likes of Alan shearer and gary Lineker are tweeting praise on a weekly basis. ‘I was in shock when they first did that, I didn’t know how to respond, it was crazy,’ he says.

Crazy is one word to describe Longstaff’s emergence. He spent last season on loan at League one Blackpool and made his Premier League debut as a substitute at Liverpool on Boxing Day. Were it not for injuries to senior team-mates, he would be back out on loan now.

Instead, he has started the last 11 matches — scoring twice — a run in which four straight home league victories have saved Newcastle’s season, and that is why manager Rafa Benitez is desperate for good news on his injury.

one of those games, a 2-1 win over Manchester City, saw Pep guardiola applaud Longstaff after he outwitted fernandinho and Kevin de Bruyne.

Life, he agrees, has changed beyond all recognition in the space of just two months. ‘ I haven’t changed, I’m still the same lad who lives at home with my mam, brother and sister,’ he says. Younger brother Matthew is also on the books at Newcastle.

‘ But yeah, other things have changed. It’s all a bit strange, I wasn’t expecting this. the other morning I was leaving the house and the shopping was getting delivered. the sainsbury’s delivery man was like, “Are you…?” so we got a selfie. I couldn’t help with the bags though, I was late for training!’

If Longstaff has been taken aback by his sudden arrival on the big stage — he was never a player trumpeted for greatness — then it raises the question: how has he been so good? ‘I don’t know!’ he laughs, somewhat embarrassed. ‘I think going to a higher level has suited me, being around better players.

‘I went in with an open mindset and perhaps a bit of naivety, which isn’t a bad thing. I tell myself, “You’ve always dreamt of being here, you might as well go down giving it everything you’ve got rather than playing it safe”. I think that has given me freedom.’

Longstaff has won comparison to Michael Carrick and when he is on the ball he plays like he can see everyone else in slow motion.

‘that’s just the way I look, I’m a laid-back person. As much as it might look easy, in my head, believe me, it’s going a million miles an hour!’

Longstaff’s head was in a spin when Benitez told him he was going on at Anfield. His dad David, a former great Britain ice hockey star, was in the away end and had to grip those around him, so emotional was he when fans greeted his son’s introduction with a chorus of ‘sean Longstaff, he’s one of our own’.

It was all a bit too much for the young man on the touchline as well. ‘It was weird, this moment you’ve imagined all your life, and all you’re thinking is, “I hope I don’t fall over!” It’s something you do every day, run in a straight line. I even tied my shorts ridiculously tight because I didn’t want them to fall down.

‘ the staff were passing on messages, which went in one ear and straight out the other. I ran on and thought, “I need to tell someone something, but I don’t know who and I don’t know what!”’ then he heard the song. ‘I’ve been in the crowd chanting about Newcastle players. You then think, “Hold on, this one’s about me”. I just stopped and looked around, “Wow, this is unbelievable”. I went numb. It gives you chills.’

VERY few diners in the Miller & Carter steakhouse on Newcastle’s Mosley street last october would have recognised the painfully shy birthday boy.

‘they brought a big cake out… it was the last thing I wanted,’ says Longstaff, remembering his 21st celebrations with his family. ‘I hate being the centre of attention.’

He had better get used to it. the good news for Newcastle fans is that the fear of another dressing-room initiation song means he has no desire to move on.

‘If you’d told me when I was 10 you had to do that I would have quit football! that’s about the furthest from my comfort zone I can be.’ What did he sing? ‘ Love Yourself by Justin Bieber… I know. I’m just thankful it’s done, I’m never changing clubs now.’

Where Longstaff is more at ease, it would seem, is at home in North shields. Rather than hit the town, it was there that he returned after his man- of- the- match performance against City, ‘all of us watching the highlights and staying up talking’ before retiring to his bedroom, ‘still wide awake’, to play on his Xbox.

‘My mam still tells me to get off it,’ he smiles. ‘ there are rows sometimes, and that can wind the dog up a bit, but it’s a fun house to be in, I’m happy there.’

Home could well have been sweden for the Longstaffs. they moved to stockholm for a year when David signed for Djurgardens If, the country’s biggest ice hockey team.

‘Me and Matty would probably be playing ice hockey if we’d stayed. Even after that, we were tempted to follow Dad. When we watched him we thought it was amazing, and that’s all we knew.

‘But Dad was great, he saw that we were better at football and pushed us towards that — it was the right decision!’

Longstaff not only has a sporting father with more than 100 caps to lean on, he also has the former Newcastle, Celtic and England midfielder Alan thompson, his dad’s cousin.

so what one piece of thompson’s advice does he value most?

‘Pass forward,’ says Longstaff. It is a fascinating insight and explains a lot about the courage with which he plays. ‘He says it’s easy to come in and pass sideways or backwards. He’s always told me that I’m good enough to play at this level. He tells me to be brave. I rely on him a lot.’ We have delayed talk of England. ‘If it happens then great, it won’t affect me if it doesn’t. I’ve never been with England so it’s strange seeing my name linked. I suppose it shows the progress I’ve made.’

Longstaff has come a long way since being told he was not good enough.

‘The Sainsbury’s delivery man was like, “Are you...?” So we got a selfie’