Sean Longstaff shares what shocked him and his Newcastle United teammates this summer

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Newcastle United were forced into a corner earlier this summer, as they scrambled to salvage their desperate PSR situation.

As June 30th loomed, Newcastle United were on the brink of failing to comply with profit and sustainability rules. They were around £70million short of where they needed to be, and failure to comply would have led to a points deduction down the line.

PIF absolutely did not want Newcastle to suffer a points deduction, which meant that funds needed raised no matter what.

While Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak were off limits, the Magpies did at least flirt with the idea of letting Anthony Gordon leave the club. Gordon was offered to Liverpool, and talks almost resulted in Joe Gomez signing for Newcastle as part of a deal.

However, those talks were scrapped when Newcastle found another way.

Newcastle sold two rising stars

Instead of cashing in on a major player like Gordon, Newcastle were able to sell Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh.

They brought in almost £70million, with the rest of Newcastle’s PSR shortfall made up by the compensation the club received from Manchester United for Dan Ashworth.

It was a real shame to see both youngsters go, with Eddie Howe admitting it was disappointing.

It was particularly sad that Anderson had to depart, as he is a local lad that had come through the academy and shown real signs of promise.

But he is a Nottingham Forest player now, costing £35million.

Sean Longstaff disappointed to see Elliot Anderson go

Newcastle have lost one of their Geordies, and fellow academy graduate Sean Longstaff has spoken to the Athletic about how ‘disappointing’ it was to see Anderson leave the club.

“It was really disappointing,” he said.

“Elliot was a massive part of our team, on the pitch, off the pitch and when we we saw it, we were in shock.

“We’re not stupid, we’d seen all the stuff with financial fair play (FFP) and who was on the table and who wasn’t on the table. At that point, the way it seemed, everyone had their price and unfortunately for Elliot and for us, he was the one who had to go.

“The day after it was done, we were all running together and he came in and we just gave him a big hug.

“But, hopefully, he’s going to use it as a positive and maybe he’s not going to be seen as the young lad at Newcastle anymore and he’ll get a bit more respect for how good he is. Hopefully, he can kick on and have a really good season – just not against Newcastle.”

Anderson’s minutes at Newcastle would have been limited

Just as it did for the players, Anderson’s Newcastle United exit came as a shock to the fans.

There had not been too many murmurs about him leaving, until he was offered to Wolves as part of a deal to sign Max Kilman. That offer was rejected, and the word coming out of Newcastle was that Anderson wanted to stay.

But he was gone soon after, as Nottingham Forest snapped up the 21-year-old midfielder.

It will prove to be a case of what might have been, as Anderson had shown he has the potential to be a top level player in the Premier League. Sadly, it is potential he will hope to realise in a Nottingham Forest shirt, rather than the black and white of Newcastle.

However, his minutes would have been limited at Newcastle this season with no European football. Before he left, Howe told Anderson he would be third choice in Newcastle’s midfield pecking order, sitting behind Joelinton and Joe Willock for the role on the left of the central trio. When you look at it like that, a move away made sense.

But that does not make it any less disappointing, and Longstaff expects Anderson to do well at his new club.