Sean Longstaff: Leeds United sign midfielder from Newcastle for £12m

“It was going to take a lot for me to leave Newcastle to be honest and I wasn’t just going to leave to go anywhere so it had to be the right place for me and my family and I think this is a perfect place.

“Every time I came to play at Leeds the atmosphere was amazing, it was always bouncing and a really tough place to play, and [I’m] just looking forward to having that on my side rather than having to play against.”

He made 214 senior appearances for the Magpies, but played only 787 minutes for Eddie Howe’s side in the Premier League last season – mostly as a substitute.

Longstaff also made five appearances in the Carabao Cup last season, but was an unused substitute as Newcastle defeated Liverpool 2-1 in the final to win their domestic trophy in 70 years.

Leeds had already agreed personal terms with the English midfielder but had an offer of £10m rejected by Newcastle earlier this week.

Longstaff is Leeds’ fifth signing this summer following the arrivals of defenders Sebastiaan Bornauw, Jaka Bijol and Gabriel Gudmundsson as well as German forward Lukas Nmecha.

Daniel Farke’s side will begin their Premier League campaign at home to Everton on 18 August.

They play Manchester United in a pre-season friendly in Stockholm on Saturday, before further friendlies against Villarreal and AC Milan in August.