Exclusive: Furious Newcastle blocked Longstaff move due to Pozzo family antics
Newcastle United blocked the deadline-day exit of Matty Longstaff to Watford as they are still furious with the Pozzo family who own the club, Football Insider can exclusively reveal.
Watford made a move to sign Longstaff on loan as part of a transfer chain that would have seen Hamza Choudhury join Newcastle and Nathaniel Chalobah replace him at Leicester City.
A recruitment source has told Football Insider further details that sheds extra light on why Newcastle were ultimately willing to lose out on Choudhury because of their hostility towards Watford.
The discord stretches back to last year when the United board were unhappy with Watford's owners, the Pozzo family, over their pursuit of Longstaff for their other club Udinese.
Newcastle felt Udinese unsettled Longstaff during their contract talks by offering him a deal to move to Italy in a way that had a detrimental effect on the player.
It would have secured only a small compensation fee for Longstaff due to his age and his previous contract expiring last summer.
Longstaff eventually signed a new two-year deal with Newcastle last August, but the Magpies have not forgiven or forgotten the Pozzo's pursuit of the homegrown talent.
This was why they refused to consider sanctioning a move to Watford on deadline day.
In a difficult day of discussions between all the clubs Watford refused to consider alternative options to Longstaff and, as a result, the transfer chain reaction meant the Choudry and Chalobah deals also fell through.
All three midfield players remained at their respective clubs.