Stephen Glass believes Aberdeen can help accelerate the development of Matty Longstaff after the highly-regarded Newcastle midfielder moved to Pittodrie on a season-long loan.
The 21-year-old signed a one-year extension to his deal at St James’ Park – taking him up to 2023 – before joining the cinch Premiership club in an effort to get more game time.
Longstaff has appeared 20 times for Newcastle since making his debut two years ago and has scored three goals, two of which came against Manchester United.
He has not featured for Steve Bruce’s side since a 3-0 Premier League defeat by Arsenal in January, but Glass – a former Newcastle player himself – believes Longstaff’s move to the Granite City will boost the Dons’ squad and help get his career back on track.
Glass told the Aberdeen website: “For a young player, Matty has already played in a good number of high-profile games for a top club, against some of the biggest teams in England. We believe he is going to continue to make good progress here with us.
“We are pleased he has chosen Aberdeen to help him further his career, particularly as he had other high-profile options in England to consider.
“We’ve no doubt he will have a positive impact and will help us with the rest of our campaign.”
Longstaff’s brother Sean, 23, also had a stint in Scotland when he went on loan to Kilmarnock in 2017 before returning to establish himself at Newcastle.
Magpies boss Steve Bruce said: “We’ve said it’s important for Matty to go and play football so it’s a great opportunity for him to do that.”
Longstaff becomes the second new arrival in successive days at Aberdeen after former Inverness winger Marley Watkins – who had an injury-disrupted loan stint at Pittodrie last term – joined the club on a two-year deal following his departure from Cardiff.
