The eye-watering fee Eddie Howe wants Leeds United to pay for Newcastle United star Sean Longstaff

It is unclear if Leeds United will dip their toes back into the market and try to sign Newcastle United star Sean Longstaff, after a third bid for the midfielder was rejected.

Longstaff, 27, was the subject of a third bid from Leeds last week worth £12m. An initial £10m fee plus another £2m in add-ons. After initial reports that it had been accepted, the £12m bid was rejected.

As it stands, Leeds are yet to make a fourth offer for Longstaff who is in the final year of his contract on Tyneside. Longstaff even opened the scoring for Newcastle in a 4-0 win over Carlisle on Saturday.

Graeme Bailey has told LeedsUnited.News he expects Leeds to go again, but the feeling at Leeds is an unconfident one in their attempts to get Longstaff. Leeds are desperate to avoid paying over the odds.

How much Eddie Howe wants Leeds to pay for Sean Longstaff

When the bid was reported by David Ornstein, there was a feeling among Leeds fans that if they could get Longstaff for £12m, it would be a bargain. As it turns out, it was always too good to be true.

Now, TeamTalk share how much Howe wants for the Toon academy product. Despite his contract length, Newcastle and Howe want as much as £20m for Longstaff if they are to sell him in the next six weeks.

There are four reasons why Howe wants to keep Longstaff at St. James’ Park, chief amongst which is that Newcastle have qualified for the Champions League and require homegrown players to be registered.

Newcastle identify two players as replacements for Longstaff

Another reason why Newcastle are trying to get every available penny for Longstaff is that the two players they have lined up as replacements are expensive. The first is Atletico Madrid midfielder Conor Gallagher.

Gallagher left Chelsea for Diego Simeone’s side in 2024 and cost just shy of £40m. Atleti want the same to let Gallagher go, with the England man well-liked in Spain’s capital. The other is Coventry’s Jack Rudoni.

Leeds have been linked with Rudoni after his 23 goals and assists, but so have Newcastle. Coventry are using Jobe Bellingham’s move to Dortmund as precedent, requesting between £25m and £30m for him.

It means that if Newcastle are going to replace Longstaff, they need as much cash as possible in order to spend on his replacement and avoid making a big dent when it comes to Profit & Sustainability Rules.

A £20m move would see Longstaff become the joint-sixth biggest signing in Leeds’ history alongside USA midfielder Tyler Adams, who joined Leeds for the same amount from Leipzig in the summer of 2022.