In what was one of the biggest transfer stories of the summer for Manchester United as their attempts to sign Sean Longstaff from fellow Premier League side Newcastle certainly raised a few eyebrows.

Amidst suggestions the club were looking to sign him, fans of the Manchester side took to Twitter to voice their frustrations with it all. Reports had claimed the Red Devils were quoted a price of £50m for the Englishman, and that eventually, United decided that the fee was too high, and they walked away.

And judging by how the season has panned out for Longstaff, it appears United have dodged a major bullet.

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The 22-year-old has managed just one goal and two assists all season, whilst his name has arguably dropped even lower than his own brother, Matty – who of course scored the winner against United earlier this season.

As per Whoscored, he is averaging just one interception and 0.8 key passes per game in the Premier League, which is exactly the same output being produced by Nemanja Matic – a man who has been linked with an exit from the club.

In fact, even comparing his own stats from last year, Longstaff’s output in most of the key areas for a midfielder have all gone down. He is averaging less tackles, interceptions, dribbles, passes and pass accuracy than what he managed in the previous campaign.

You only have to imagine the kind of stick Ed Woodward would be getting right about now had United not pulled out of negotiations, and ended up signing Longstaff.

Who on earth is that?!?! Can you name all of these obscure January signings?

Just look at how Red Devils fans have openly slammed the executive vice-chairman in recent months over comments made about the club’s recruitment policy and possible director of football appointment.

Woodward is public enemy number one at Old Trafford – a few weeks ago fans were even throwing flares at his house – and going full steam ahead for someone like Longstaff would surely have seen his name slaughtered even more than it already is.

The Newcastle midfielder is having a stuttering campaign after a break-through season last year, and it has already become clear that United have had some good fortune in missing out on one of their prime transfer targets from the previous summer.

Woodward has certainly avoided accumulating another stick for fans to beat him with.

Meanwhile, Man Utd should thank this ace after his impressive performance against Everton.