Newcastle United midfielder Matty Longstaff will see his current contract at St James' Park expire at the end of June.
The local player caught the attention of Steve Bruce as soon as he walked through the door at St James' last summer and he suddenly burst onto the first team scene in the 2019/20 season.
He made his first team debut in the Carabao Cup second round tie with Leicester City in August 2019, before having a dream Premier League debut in October as he scored the winner against Manchester United in the 1-0 victory.
He also opened the scoring against the same opposition at Old Trafford on Boxing Day, but this game was less memorable as the Magpies slumped to a 4-1 defeat.
The 19-year-old has also represented England at under-20 level and was once again impressive in his two caps so far.
The current situation
Longstaff looks likely to be leaving St James' Park in the coming weeks after Newcastle have been unable to find a satisfactory new deal for the youngster.
Concerns surrounding his future grew even more on Wednesday as he did not feature at all in a behind-closed-doors friendly victory against Middlesbrough at the club's Benton training ground.
There were also concerns with Matty's older brother Sean Longstaff also not featuring in the friendly fixture. Sean signed a new deal last summer to keep him at St James' until 2022, but if the price was right Mike Ashley would no doubt be willing to let Sean leave the club too.
Matty is believed to have travelled to Italy before lockdown restrictions came into action to hold discussions with Seria A side Udinese.
Does Matty Longstaff deserve a new contract?
It seems a joke that Newcastle seem more than happy for Longstaff to leave the club this summer, especially after the promise he has shown in his first season involved with the first team.
But this wouldn't be the first time that the club have let some of their homegrown talent leave the club prematurely with players like Adam Armstrong and Fraser Forster being pushed out of the door at a young age.
Despite only making seven first team appearances for the Magpies so far, he has shown just how good a player he can be and he has already looked settled in the heart of the Newcastle side. There was once even hope that the future of the club could consist of the two Longstaff brothers playing together in midfield.
There is no denying the Matty Longstaff does deserve a new deal and it would be a real waste for Newcastle to let him go without putting up any sort of fight.
Should Longstaff be tempted abroad?
For someone as young at Matty Longstaff, a move abroad seems a daunting prospect especially after being based in Newcastle throughout his career. He hasn't even spent time out on loan at any other clubs.
However a number of young English talent have moved abroad recently and it has worked wonders for their careers with Jadon Sancho being one of Borussia Dortmund's standout players in the last two seasons.
Reiss Nelson is another player who spent time out in the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim last season, and he also performed well. Unfortunately he has had game time limited with Arsenal since his return to North London after his loan spell.
There are certainly reasons why someone like Longstaff may feel that a move abroad could help him develop as a player, but it would likely be a move that Newcastle would regret moving forwards. It now looks that the club will not meet what Longstaff is after so a move elsewhere is more than plausible.