The Magpies were required to raise funds before the PSR accounting deadline on June 30 otherwise risked a Premier League points deduction. It was a precarious situation that went to the wire but United covered their shortfall via the sales of Yankuba Minteh to Brighton & Hove Albion and Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest for a combined £68million.
Minteh joined from Danish side Odense Boldklub last summer but never kicked a ball for Newcastle after spending the 2024-25 campaign on loan at Feyenoord. Meanwhile, Anderson played 55 times for his boyhood club after coming through the academy.
Those two players were sacrificed but Longstaff believes it could have been anyone with Player of the Year Anthony Gordon also linked with a move to Liverpool.