'I want to go! I want to go!' - Sean Longstaff had heart set on Rangers move before Newcastle United chance

Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff has admitted he had his heart set on a move to Rangers before being handed his big chance by former Magpies boss Rafa Benitez.

Sean Longstaff in action for Newcastle United

The 22-year-old told NUFC TV that he came close to agreeing a second spell in Scotland after his loan stint with Kilmarnock during the 2016/17 season.

On the fringes of the first-team squad, Longstaff told the Spaniard that he was desperate for more regular gametime.

"I had been training since the start of the year and I was just champing at the bit to play," he told Newcastle's TV channel.

"Rafa took me into his office, and he said that [Steven] Gerrard wanted to take me to Rangers and I sort of had my heart set on that a little bit."

Longstaff, who has played 20 times this season for the St James' Park club, would have linked up with Gerrard in January 2019, but Benitez urged the player to stick around for a first-team chance with his hometown club.

Revealing he was eager to make the switch but Benitez had told him to bide his time, Longstaff added: "I was like, 'I want to go! I want to go!' but he went, ‘no, you can't go, you’ve got to wait another week or so’.

“Then he just pulled me in before Chelsea and said, ‘you’re going to get a chance’.”