I want to take you back in time.

It's the 2017/18 season and a young Geordie is on his second loan spell. He'd had a decent half season in the SPL at Kilmarnock, but this was his first full season away, 20 years old, the central midfielder bids farewell to his family in North Shields and moves to Blackpool to ply his trade in League One.

The Seasiders have an average season finishing mid-table, but the young Geordie is a revelation. With eight goals and five assists in 42 games he is a key part of the first team. It's not just the goals, it's the manner of the goals.

A turn midway inside the attacking half before rifling into the top corner from thirty yards. A cutback just inside the box, holding off several of the opposition, before planting a precise finish at the near post. A controlled volley from 25 yards to nestle in the opposite corner. A touch and strike from 30 yards to bend into ball deliciously into the net.

These were excellent goals. These were the goals of a star in the making.

Fast forward a couple of years and Sean Longstaff has become a revelation under Rafa Benitez. His graft and composure have pundits likening him to a young Michael Carrick. Rumours of big bids zip about during the summer, but Longstaff stays despite the manager that had helped him break through departing.

Over the next two and a bit years he would see his form falter and his fortunes change. He becomes something of a forgotten man and there is a point when his old gaffer almost lures him away to Everton.

Sean Longstaff stays again and soon everything changes.

A wealthy, ambitious and positive consortium removes the burden of an apathetic owner. The manager that is neglecting him soon follows and is replaced by a man every bit the perfect mentor.

Under Eddie Howe we have seen Sean Longstaff become integral once more.

I'll be honest. It's taken me a while to get on the Longstaff gravy train. It's not that I've ever disliked him, he just wasn't a guaranteed starter for me. I couldn't see what he did that would make him anyone's pick in front of any of Bruno, Joelinton and Willock. He doesn't score or create goals, he doesn't take players on, he doesn't put in crunching tackles or play sweeping long balls or intricate passes. He works tirelessly and maintains possession well but is that enough to see him start beyond the aforementioned three?

It wasn't for me.

Most of his passes were backwards or sideways. For all his running, I didn't see him adding much in the attacking third. It became apparent last season that we won more often with him in the squad than without, but I couldn't tell whether that was because of him or a statistical quirk.

This season though, I am seeing so much more from him. If the team performing better last season, with him in the side, was a statistical quirk, then it's continued this time out. We lost three of our opening four games without him in the starting line-up, albeit against challenging opponents. We haven't lost in the league since he regained his place against Brentford.

The triangle he is creating with Trippier and Almiron has become a key component of our right sided attacks. He's constantly getting in behind the last man and trying to create opportunities. He's pushing high and harassing defenders as we saw for his goal against Palace, where he nicked the ball off a floundering Guehi and slotted it beyond the keeper.

If he can continue to bring everything that he has been and add goals to his game, he could be one of the first names on the team sheet (if he isn't already). The fact remains that in 120 Premier League games he has less goals than he scored in that one season at Blackpool. Granted that was in League One but if he's scoring eight goals in a season as a 20-year-old, you'd expect him to be getting near to those figures in the Premier League as a 26 year old, providing he had developed as expected.

I don't expect him to be a marauding Rob Lee type midfielder or a Gary Speed mould powerhouse. He can be his own type of player. One that is popping up the right position like he did against PSG and Sheffield United. One that is seizing on errors and finding his composure to finish like he did against Palace. One who is making late runs into the box to finish moves like he did twice against Southampton in the Carabao Cup Semi Final earlier this year. But mostly, I want to see him smashing in strikes from 20/30 yards a la 20-year-old Longstaff.

I don't think it's a lack of talent that has stopped him achieving those sorts of feats. I think it is/was a lack of confidence. And I think that's about to change. Already this season he has two goals in the league, double what he's managed in any other full season for us. Add to that his goal against PSG in the Champions League and he's already matched his best all comps tally of three from last season.

His goals haven't been masterpieces, but he's been getting into the right positions, and he's been taking shots. Whereas previously he might have looked to make an extra pass and give someone else the responsibility, now it is he that is taking the strikes and reaping the rewards.

Yes, you get less time in the Premier League. Yes, the defenders and goalkeepers are better. But if you can rifle a ball into the top corner from 30 yards, you can do it in any division. You just have to believe in yourself and take those opportunities when they present themselves.

Against Man Utd, wearing the captain's armband, he almost did just that. With the ball dropping out the sky, he took a touch to pop it back up, let it bounce once and then hammered the sweetest of strikes from 25 yards that went narrowly wide.

There's no doubt that he should be getting a chance for England over the likes of Henderson or Phillips. If he starts pinging in goals from 30 yards, he will be impossible to ignore by Southgate or any other England manager.

I know many won't want that as we are stretched enough without more members of our squad going off to play in pointless games against teams like Malta. However, international recognition is the pinnacle of any player's career, and I would love Sean Longstaff to be on the plane to Germany next summer. Especially if it is over the likes of Henderson.

I think this season could be the one that he starts finding his range again. If he does so, I expect him to beat his personal best of eight league goals in a season. What a season that would be for the local lad.