Newcastle to open contract talks with Fabian Schar 'very shortly'

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has confirmed that the club are ready to open talks with defender Fabian Schar over his future at St James' Park.

The Swiss international has impressed hugely since Howe arrived at the club, but his long-term future is up in the air as his current contract expires at the end of the season.

90min understands that Schar's representatives have spoken to a number of clubs on the continent, whilst there is also interest in the Premier League.

But Newcastle have now made it clear they want him to stay and Howe confirmed talks are set to take place quite soon.

"Fabian is someone, as I’ve said before, I’ve always admired," said Howe.

"A really good, footballing centre-back the most important thing for me is he’s defended really well. We’re aware of his contract situation, we’ll be sitting down and discussing things with his agent very shortly."

Another player Howe insists he wants to keep is Sean Longstaff, who like Schar, is out of contract at the end of the season.

However, it remains to be seen if Longstaff will stay given the fact he is already struggling for playing time - even before January signing Bruno Guimaraes has made a Premier League start.

"From my side, every part of me wants him to stay," Howe said of the 24-year-old.

"I love Sean, but I maybe haven’t displayed that with my team selections. That's only because it is a really strong area of the team, Bruno is not playing either.

"I really do rate him highly and I am desperate for him to get an opportunity and show everyone on a consistent basis what he can do because he's a top player.

"I would love him to stay and there is no part of me that wants to see him leave and I believe he has a long-term future here. That is Sean's decision as well."