A HOST of clubs are looking to take advantage of Newcastle United’s uncertain position following news of Rafa Benitez’s exit by launching summer bids for the Premier League club’s top talents.

That includes Manchester United being primed to make an offer for top midfield prospect Sean Longstaff, despite the Magpies placing a hefty valuation on his head after just nine top-flight appearances last season.

Longstaff fulfilled a childhood dream by appearing in the Premier League for his hometown team last season before a serious knee injury cruelly brought an end to his campaign.

But his performances still caught the eye of England boss Gareth Southgate as well as a long list of top clubs, with Manchester United known to have made their interest known before the end of the season.

The 21-year-old has been identified as one of the midfield options for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to target, with the midfield an area where he wants to strengthen – particularly following the departure of Ander Herrera.

Solskjaer wants to take the Red Devils in a different direction and return to the days where they field younger talents. They have lined up a £45m-plus deal for 21-year-old full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka and he would follow the signing of Swansea’s talented forward Daniel James.

Newcastle are not looking to sell Longstaff because they value him highly having rewarded him with a new deal earlier this year, but a summer of uncertainty has shrouded doubts over the futures of numerous players.

Nobody knows what Mike Ashley, the Newcastle owner, would do if there was offers on the table made for the likes of Longstaff because he is still in talks to sell the club to the Bin Zayed Group. There is also still believed to be other interested parties.

That is why Manchester United are ready to tempt Newcastle with an offer for Longstaff, just as other clubs are for some of the Tyneside outfit’s other players.

Ayoze Perez has a queue of clubs interested in him from across Europe, particularly in Italy and Spain. Valencia are the front-runners at this stage and are said to feel that a £20m bid could be enough to take the Spaniard back home.

Perez has openly admitted he does not know what is around the corner and that the prospect of heading back to Spain is tempting after five years in the North-East. He has just enjoyed his best season so far at St James’ Park, and Newcastle would make a sizeable profit on the £2m they paid to Tenerife for him inn 2014.

Sevilla, Napoli and Inter Milan are among those to have been credited with an interest in Perez, who still has two years remaining on his contract and had a strong relationship with compatriot Benitez.  He was not the only one. Benitez was respected by the whole squad and the fact the manager will not be staying at Newcastle beyond his contract that expires on June 30 has raised doubts over many others in the squad.

There has been interest in players across the squad too, so any new manager coming into replace Benitez will instantly be hit with some big decisions – regardless of whether there is a takeover or not.

With it increasingly likely that Ashley will still be in control at Newcastle come the start of the season given Sheikh Khaled’s Group has still not started the process with the Premier League to have that given the go-ahead, Newcastle are sure to be contacted with regard to some of their other players.

Federico Fernandez recently deleted a tweet he had posted where he had criticised how Benitez had left, having been persuaded to move to Tyneside last summer by his former Napoli boss.

There is also known to be interest in the likes of Fabian Schar and Martin Dubravka following decent spells for Newcastle, while Isaac Hayden and Jonjo Shelvey are two midfield players who are still expected to leave this summer.

On top of those, Newcastle have already allowed Mo Diame to leave at the end of his contract and the loans of Kenedy and Salomon Rondon have expired, with neither set to return as things stand. Nor are they like given the fees being demanded by Chelsea and West Brom respectively.  Ashley is faced with a big dilemma at a time when he is actively looking to sell Newcastle. His failure to persuade Benitez to stay by matching the manager’s demands has left the sportswear tycoon considering his options on the managerial front.

As things stand it seems more likely that there will be a short term appointment, inn line with how Benitez was offered a one-year extension. Manchester City’s Mikel Arteta, Steven Gerrard, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Laurent Blanc are four of the main names being touted.

Jose Mourinho, as reported in The Northern Echo yesterday, has distanced himself from the post despite being the firm favourite. He has suggested his next job will be another where he knows he can challenge for a top four spot.