West Ham United is planning a snap up Jamaal Lascelles from Newcastle United for £15m. The club’s fanbase is currently unsettled with some of the decisions the board have taken in recent weeks.
Scenes turned sour during the 3-0 defeat on 10th March as four separate pitch invasions and volatile protests aimed at West Ham’s owners, David Gold and David Sullivan, who were advised to leave their seats for their own safety, with the latter having been struck on his glass by a coin.
Now, the club needs to address the issues at hand while at the same time showing some signs of optimistic changes. Adding quality players to the squad will confirm the club’s ambitions to improve upon the current season.
Lascelles arrived at St James’ Park in the summer of 2014 along with his Nottingham Forest teammate, Karl Darlow, The duo was loaned back to Forest for a season before they could start their Newcastle careers and Lascelles took up the challenge with great vigour. He was named the club captain in 2016 and has shone under the management of Rafael Benitez.
Lascelles admires Benitez highly and has enjoyed a lucrative spell over the past couple of seasons. He has appeared in 27 games this season, across all competitions and the Magpies were quick to provide him with a contract extension which saw his wages rise to £50,000-a-week.
His current obligation to the club is secured till the summer of 2023 but West Ham can come in with a significantly improved offer.
The Hammers are undergoing a challenging season with the club now rooted in a closely tied relegation battle. They are currently held off the bottom three by just 2 points and consecutive losses to Liverpool, Swansea City and Burnley by a 3-goal margin did not help their case for survival.
David Moyes has instilled a bit of structure on his arrival but the team could do with a few improvements. The backline has been especially vulnerable with James Collins entering the last stages of his playing career.
Going by the standards Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Gary Cahill and John Stones have set for themselves this season, the centre-back spot for the England national team is wide open for interested candidates.
Jamaal could find himself in all white jersey next June if he continues to impress for the Magpies. Not only would he tighten the Hammers backline, the fans at the London Stadium will be overjoyed to see one of the future England prospects put on their jersey.
