Aberdeen’s midfield options were increased at the end of the recent transfer window when 21-year-old Matty Longstaff agreed to join the club on a season long loan from Newcastle United.

Matty has already made a mark on the Premier League down south, making 14 appearances at that level for the Magpies. His debut was one to savour, not least because it came against Manchester United. Better yet, Matty smashed in a goal to mark the occasion, the only goal of the game and one which went on to be voted the Premier League’s “Goal of the Month”.

He’s part of a sporting family, his dad David an ice hockey international who played over a hundred times for Great Britain and who is now the head coach at Whitley Warriors. His cousin is the former Bolton, Aston Villa and Celtic midfielder Alan Thompson and, of course, older brother Sean is also a player at Newcastle.

While the two brothers are very close, as Matty says, coming up to Pittodrie will give him a chance to get a word in edgeways. “I used to do all my interviews with my brother – he can talk for England! Obviously we’d get asked the same question when we were first brought through and he would get to answer first. Then when he finished, it came back to me and I had to ask what the question was – he’d spoken for that long, I couldn’t remember what they were asking!

“I don’t think I’d played a professional game without my brother until coming up here. We support each other really well, we’re very close, it’s a tight knit friendship we have back home.

Everything we do is together.

“Obviously Sean came up here about four years ago and was on loan at Kilmarnock for the second half of the season. I used to drive up and watch him when I had the chance, so I already had a bit of an idea about what Scottish football was all about.

“When the possibility of the move came about, I spoke to him about it, and I spoke to Ryan Fraser, who obviously came through the set-up here. He just said it was a great club and if you get the chance go and play there. I didn’t need much persuading other than that. He’s a good lad and a good player as well.

“The biggest thing is coming somewhere you are wanted, where you want to be and where you can be playing games. This seemed the perfect place for me.”

Stephen Glass was just as delighted to get Matty into the squad for the long haul ahead. “For a young player, Matty has already played in a good number of high-profile games for a top club, against some of the biggest teams in England. We believe he is going to continue to make good progress here with us. We are pleased he has chosen Aberdeen to help him further his career, particularly as he had other high-profile options in England to consider. We’ve no doubt he will have a positive impact and will help us with the rest of our campaign.”

Like Matty, the manager played for both the Dons and Newcastle, and his reputation on Tyneside remains a strong one according to Longstaff. “As soon as he knew I was here, one of my mates who’s a bit older than me, sent me a text asking me to get him his autograph! I was laughing at that, but I’ll have to get that done at some point!

“The manager has experienced Newcastle, knows what it’s like and I’m really looking forward to working with him and his team. What you want as a player is to be playing under pressure and to deal with it. At Newcastle there’s an expectancy that you will play at a high level. I’m expecting the exact same thing at Aberdeen. The big thing is making sure we finish as high as possible, play some great stuff and give the fans something to cheer about.

“You’ve got to win games when you come here. That was the big attractive thing coming here – they expect to win every game and it’s a great mentality to have in the building from a young age. Hopefully I can do that here.

“I’m always here to help the team. I’ve got legs in midfield, I like to get on the ball and get the team playing a little bit. But whatever the manager asks, I’ll be happy to do it, whether it’s playing a little bit further back and trying to get on the ball or whether it’s breaking into the box and scoring goals. I’m happy to do either.”

The deal was finally sealed as the Dons prepared to play Qarabag, meaning Pittodrie had an additional spectator that evening.

“I was straight up here on the Thursday. It ended up being a six-and-a-half-hour drive, which wasn’t great, but at least I got here. I got to see the stadium rocking, the fans were unreal. It was unbelievable. Obviously it was the first time I’d seen the stadium and the fans were all jumping and clapping behind the net. Hopefully there’s more of that to come this season.

“It was nice to join at the same time as Austin Samuels and to make my debut with him. I grew up playing against Austin through the age groups when he was at Wolves. From what I remember he was always a handful, he wriggles so well round the box and he’s a natural goalscorer – obviously his pace to run in frightens people and he used to always score against us. I’m looking forward to playing with him.

“It was nice to get out in front of the fans so quickly and play in the Ross County game and I got a great welcome from them. I know I can be better than I’ve showed so far but I’m looking forward to getting on the training pitch and working hard and then hopefully, I can improve game by game as I get used to things.

“Things will start to come together the more we train and play. I can bring a bit of quality on the ball, a bit of energy in midfield, hopefully I can break into the box a bit more and score a few goals too.

“The international break was helpful for me to get used to things, to get myself settled in and all that, but because we had a number of boys away on international duty, it was. still hard to really get to know everyone. This last week has been much better in that respect.

“Aberdeen is like Newcastle in that it’s a one club city so that’s exciting and I know a bit about the Scottish league from my brother. It’s got good qualities, there are a lot of good teams playing at a high standard, it’s really competitive and very tight league and playing games here will only help me.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge and to giving the fans something to cheer about in the coming weeks.”