After breaking through into the first-team last season, Sean Longstaff has become a permanent fixture in the Newcastle squad this year.

The 22-year-old has featured 21 times in the Premier League alone, and looks set to be a key part of the Magpies midfield over the coming seasons.

But having been given his first opportunity by Rafa Benitez, Longstaff may face the prospect of having to work under a third different Newcastle manager should Steve Bruce leave the club this summer.

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Reports have suggested that with the club on the verge of takeover, Bruce could be one of the first to go as the new owners look to bring in a man of their own.

Despite that, Longstaff has leapt to his manager's defence, and insisted that he deserves the chance to prove himself. Speaking on The Epic podcast (as quoted by The Chronicle), he said: "From the moment he came, in China, at the start of this season, he's been brilliant.

"There have been times where for me personally I've wanted to play, he's left me out and I've asked the question (why) and he's been brutally honest with me. If you look at the team this year, we've been pretty successful I think - a lot of people wrote us off at the start, and I think it would be unfair if you didn't give him the chance to carry on the work that he has started to put into place."

And after hearing what Longstaff had to say, Newcastle fans flooded to Twitter to share their reactions.

A couple of Magpies supporters seemed unsurprised that Longstaff was "toeing the party line", and suggested that Bruce is having a negative effect on him.

One Magpies fan raised the prospect of the players potentially knowing more information about the takeover and what that could mean, and wondered whether because he "sounds obviously confident", he knows that Bruce may be staying on.

A couple of supporters just urged the club to get rid of Longstaff, with one fan claiming that his comments showed "he clearly has no ambition".

It certainly seems a bit harsh for a few Magpies fans to call on the club to get rid of Longstaff, and his backing of Bruce is hardly surprising.

But under a manager like Mauricio Pochettino who helped develop the likes of Dele Alli at Tottenham, Newcastle supporters could be seeing the very best of Longstaff in the near future.