Sean Longstaff and Paul Dummett have a few things in common.
They’re both local lads who supported Newcastle as youngsters. Both players have come through the academy. They have both had loan spells in Scotland. And they were both told they were not good enough.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Newcastle’s latest breakout star Longstaff has been talking about the struggles he had at the club as an 18-year-old.
“I remember the Under-23s coaches saying, “You’re not one of the top players, we’re only going to give you a scholarship”,’ he said.
“I was 18, I wanted to be a first-year pro. I had an opinion of myself but theirs was different. It wasn’t nice to hear.”
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Three years later and the midfielder has been nominated for Premier League Player of the Month alongside superstars such as Paul Pogba and Sergio Aguero.
Longstaff has been unfazed since stepping up to Premier League football, making his debut on Boxing Day against Liverpool. Physically, he hasn’t had an issue. He looks at home competing against some of the world’s best.
He has proven his doubters wrong, which is exactly what his teammate had to do.
Longstaff not the only Newcastle academy player to be doubted
Dummett is now a senior figure at Newcastle, but once upon a time he was breaking into the side and becoming a first-team regular. However, former manager Alan Pardew wasn’t convinced by the left-back.
“I got told I wasn’t good enough by Alan Pardew so I told him I had to prove him wrong,” Dummett said in January 2018, according to the Daily Star.
“He knew then my attitude was right and he was the one who ultimately gave me my chance.”
We haven’t seen many players graduate from the Newcastle academy to the first-team in recent years. That’s why fans have heralded Longstaff as ‘one of our own’.
Seeing local lads playing for the first-team and not looking out of place is a beautiful sight. Despite adversity, both Longstaff and Dummett are doing that.