"CAN I SAY THIS?"
Sean Longstaff is speaking to FourFourTwo at Newcastle United's training centre, and has realised mid-conversation that he's applying the same honesty and commitment to this chat as he would to a match in the Premier League or Champions League. It's like he only knows one mode: zeal.
As the 26-year-old homegrown midfielder talks frankly about his first-team journey at St James' Park, via Rafa Benitez, Steve Bruce, Eddie Howe and a heavily-rumoured transfer to Manchester United, he briefly turns to the Newcastle press officer to check that he isn't overstepping the mark.
The journey hasn't always been easy-he previously suffered from mental health issues, as he candidly discusses - but it has taken the academy product to a point where he has delivered some of the finest form of his career this campaign, playing Champions League football for the first time and scoring at the Gallowgate End in a famous 4-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain.
Choosing his words carefully but eager to explain how he got here, Longstaff deftly divulges some of his current gaffer's secret powers, such as Howe's ability to predict the future and capacity to instil belief in human beings they previously thought impossible.
Longstaff isn't even halfway through his playing days, but there have already been enough twists and turns, highs and lows, fun and fallouts to fill a book. Six pages of a football magazine will have to do for now...
Your father, David, was the first man ever to receive 100 caps for Great Britain’s ice hockey team – was your introduction to sport on ice rather than grass?
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Esta historia es de la edición April 2024 de FourFourTwo UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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Over the Top with Brian Clough - The legendary former Derby and Nottingham Forest manager was a columnist for FourFourTwo from 2001 until his death in 2004 at the age of 69 - not all of his forecasts came true, though he was never short of an opinion...
The legendary former Derby and Nottingham Forest manager was a columnist for FourFourTwo from 2001 until his death in 2004 at the age of 69 - not all of his forecasts came true, though he was never short of an opinion...
"THE PLAYERS DIDN'T SEE KEVIN KEEGAN'S 'MELTDOWN' AS ANYTHING NEGATIVE. WE LOVED HIM FOR HIS PASSION"
The Geordie recalls King Kev's rant, shares his love for Ossie Ardiles and reveals what it's like to cross the Tyne-Wear divide
"HODDLE HAD BEEN PLAYING FOR MONACO UNDER WENGER, SO WE COULDN'T BELIEVE IT WHEN HE JOINED SWINDON HE WAS LIGHT-YEARS AHEAD!"
The tireless winger opens up on playing in his dad's shadow and making the wrong kind of headlines at Sunderland...
"I'M PROUD TO BE THE FIRST AFRICAN IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE - BUT LOOK WHO CAME LATER"
FFT chats to the three Boy's A Bit Special stars of Issue 1: first, a humble hotshot on rejecting Arsenal and being 'Nuddy'
AROUND THE GROUNDS
Rangers' in-form keeper tells FFT he has his sights set on a Three Lions recall
WHY MESSI'S ARGENTINA HAD TO GET 'WORSE' TO CONQUER WORLD
The Albiceleste didn't have their most talented squad in 2022, and their star wasn't at his absolute peak - but 4-4-2 helped them to win anyway...
WHY 1999 WAS THE FINEST MOMENT FOR 4-4-2... AND SIR ALEX FERGUSON
Manchester United swept to a famous Treble thanks to the management skills of their legendary boss - and a formation that suited them perfectly
HOW THE 4-4-2 BECAME BRITISH FOOTBALL'S MOST ICONIC FORMATION
A system of playing inspired the name for this very magazine - on these shores, for numerous reasons, it's football heritage
FINDING DIEGO
A little over a year before his untimely death at the age of 60, Diego Maradona was managing Mexican second-tier side Dorados de Sinaloa - FourFourTwo went deep into drug cartel country to track him down
RESPECT
That's what women's football demands more than anything. Its status has grown exponentially during FourFourTwo's lifetime, but finally the long and arduous battle for recognition is starting to pay dividends
