"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?
Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av FourFourTwo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av FourFourTwo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
NINE REASONS TO BE EXCITED FOR COPA AMERICA
Family feuds, Bielsa's return and an Icelandic dentist - it's all been going on ahead of South America's biggest tournament hosted by, er, the USA. Oh, and Messi's going to be there as well...
30 GREATEST PUNDITS EVER
FFT rates the finest opinion offerers in the history of UK television, via Del Boy, Space Jam and Donald Trump...
"TERRY VENABLES PUT HIS FAITH IN ME AT EURO 96 - I COULDN'T LET HIM DOWN"
Only Cristiano Ronaldo and Michel Platini have more goals at the Euros than Alan Shearer's seven - the forward hit five on home soil to secure the Golden Boot in 1996, and tells FFT why he found form at the perfect moment
HOW DID I FEEL AFTER SCORING NINE GOALS IN FIVE GAMES AT EURO 84? TIRED!
Forty years ago, Michel Platini's Euros-record tally propelled France to glory on home soil... and he wasn't even a forward. No player has ever had a finer European Championship - now, in his own words, he recalls it to FFT
WHY ENGLAND COULD TAKE THE HANDBRAKE OFF AT THE EUROS
Gareth Southgate has been labelled a cautious coach in recent major tournament near-misses - in Germany he might just be more adventurous, which brings risks but also potential reward
GEORGIA ON THEIR MIND
A Frenchman, an Englishman and a local genius walk into a Caucasus country to qualify for a first major tournament - is this a joke? Not for Georgia, who are dreaming big
SYIVINHO KING OF ALBANIA
The former Arsenal defender was an unexpected appointment last year, but he guided the Balkan nation to Euro 2024 - and now he tells FFT that he wants to spring another surprise...
CAPITAINE LEADER LEGENDE
Kylian Mbappe wrote his name into history at successive World Cups. Now France's captain and desperate to break his Euros goal drought, can he make it to the Berlin final and succeed where Zinedine Zidane failed 18 years ago?
JUDE AWAKENING
Three years ago, Jude Bellingham briefly became the European Championship's youngest ever player - now, after a superb debut season at Real Madrid, he's ready to make a greater impact
VIVA RONALDO
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal career was as good as over when he was dropped at the last World Cup - instead, CR7 goes to Euro 2024 as their main man once more, aged 39. Will this be the end, and can he make one last pitch to be considered the greatest?
