Newcastle United are in talks about handing Sean Longstaff a new contract, which could be worth as much as £80,000 a week.

Having valued the homegrown midfielder at as much as £50 million when Manchester United were linked with the 21-year-old in the summer, they must now improve the terms of his four-year deal, believed to be worth up to £25,000 per week, that was signed in December.

United were willing to offer about £20 million and the talks soon stalled. In those circumstances clubs usually reward a player to reflect his worth and extend his contract to enhance his value to them. Longstaff could expect to earn a similar wage to Jonjo Shelvey, the midfielder, who was Newcastle’s top earner on about £80,000 a