Matty Longstaff returned to the Newcastle starting line-up with a bang on Boxing Day as he scored against Manchester United once again, and Darren Bent thinks there will be interest in him from "top clubs".

What did he say?

The 19-year-old has had to be patient for game time since netting the winner against the Red Devils back in October, but he showed a few days ago that he is prepared for a call to play whenever Steve Bruce sees fit.

He impressed when he first burst onto the scene at the beginning of the season with that goal, and he earnt himself a call-up to England U21s as a result.

Since then there has been some speculation about his future. He is reportedly available for £400,000, as his contract is expiring at the end of the season and that is the compensation value the Magpies will be owed.

Bent believes that such a price is likely to increase his appeal amongst other big clubs, though he isn't too concerned on behalf of Newcastle, as he thinks the midfielder will sign a new contract and prolong his stay.

Speaking to Football Insider, he said:

"He’s from up there and players from there, they tend to stay up there, especially the young kids as they like to learn their football education up there.

"He has done really well and for £400,000, a lot of top clubs will be thinking we can turn that into a profit.

"But I’ll think he’ll stay at Newcastle, they’ll eventually get the deal done but it may just take a little bit of time."

Time to act

Longstaff has proved that he has a role to play in the current Newcastle squad and will likely continue to improve with more game time.

As a result, it is puzzling that a new contract is yet to be presented to the youngster, as the risk of losing him for peanuts is already quite high, and a possibility that would probably draw anger from supporters.

He's not the only important player whose future is in doubt due to their contract not being renewed either, as both Federico Fernandez and Javier Manquillo are on deals that expire next summer.

That's the case despite the two defenders both playing themselves into good form in recent weeks, Fernandez gaining plaudits from fans and the latter keeping DeAndre Yedlin out of the side.

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To lose the pair could also impact the team negatively, like Longstaff's departure would, so questions should be raised over Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley and their lack of action on this front.

It could be that Bruce wants more time to assess his players and possibly look to replace them with his own men, but in Longstaff's case it is surely a no brainer to renew his contract, as his value will likely skyrocket because of that action alone.

Meanwhile, Newcastle fans have been discussing the reasons for the loss against Everton, and interestingly didn't highlight one factor that is usually important.