Ahead of transfer deadline day yesterday, various news portals and websites including the official Premier League site, looked back on those eye-opening last-minute transfer deals of years gone by, the best bits of business, names like Luis Suarez from Ajax to Liverpool and Carlos Tevez from Corinthians to West Ham immediately spring to mind.<\/p>\n
Whilst many last-ditch transfer attempts have resulted in flops (Fernando Torres to Chelsea and Andy Carroll to Liverpool perhaps), there are some that surprisingly come good (like John Stones from Barnsley to Everton or Danny Drinkwater, Manchester United to Leicester), some under the radar (like when Mikel Arteta signed for Everton initially on loan from Real Sociedad or when Crystal Palace signed Luka Milijovecic from Olympiakos) and some just so eye-opening you can\u2019t believe they\u2019re true (think Rafael van der Vaart, Real Madrid to Tottenham or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal for example).<\/p>\n
That \u2018eye-opening\u2019 unbelievable transfer that you just can\u2019t believe has happened at your club? Well, that has just happened to little old League Two Mansfield Town.<\/p>\n
Born in Rotherham, just 26 miles north of Mansfield, Matty Longstaff and his brother Sean grew up in North Shields, Tyne & Wear where they would go on to play through the youth academy at Newcastle United.<\/p>\n
Father David, a British Ice Hockey star who\u2019s teams included Sheffield Steelers (hence the Rotherham connection) and Manchester Storm, who played in the North East for Newcastle Warriors and Newcastle Vipers, who is now Head Coach of Whitby Warriors, the cousin of former England International, Aston Villa and Celtic winger Alan Thompson, you could say sport runs through the family?<\/p>\n
Longstaff\u2019s elder brother Sean made his debut for Newcastle in December 2018 in a 4-0 defeat against Liverpool. Matty himself, three years the younger, had to wait a while longer for his first full toon appearance, in an EFL cup match against Leicester City, but it was his league debut, on the 6th<\/sup> October 2019 against Manchester United, when the young ginger haired midfielder made his name etched into Premier League folklore, an instant Geordie legend, for he, was the boy becoming a man, to score a 72nd<\/sup> minute winner at St James Park. A goal of the month contendor aged just nineteen, he later scored in the reverse fixture against Manchester United at Old Trafford, all be it that goal a mere consolation in a 4-1 defeat.<\/p>\n Those to date are Longstaff\u2019s only two league goals for Newcastle, nine of his fourteen Premier League appearances coming in the 2019\/20 season, the other five in 2020\/21, to date this campaign, he hasn\u2019t kicked a ball in black and white, instead loaned out to Aberdeen in August where he played just five times.<\/p>\n Recalled to Newcastle in December it was apparent, especially with the club\u2019s new takeover, that in a relegation scrap specifcially, Head Coach Eddie Howe would not be turning to youth in a bid to survive Premier League relegation, so instead, enter Mansfield Town who yesterday got a player on loan until the end of the season, that was last season attracting the likes of Nottingham Forest in the Championship.<\/p>\n On signing Longstaff, Stags boss Nigel Clough stated \u201cTo get a good midfielder with Premier League experience is a coup for us.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to working with Matty and get him playing some regular football.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving let Harry Charsley go to Port Vale, it\u2019s a good reinforcement for us in the midfield area.\u201d<\/p>\n The signing of Longstaff could be one that helps give a real push in the right direction for Mansfield, is one that has eye-opened the football world to how serious the club are about promotion from League Two this season, and coupled with Scottish international winger Jamie Murphy who also signed yesterday from Hibernian on loan, could be if not quite the best January signing ever in football, but perhaps the best Mansfield Town deadline day incoming transfer ever, but only if the Stags do get over the line and into the league above come May.<\/p>\n