Reports suggest that Newcastle United defender, Jamaal Lascelles have no interest in leaving the club anytime soon. The 24-year-old has been met with heavy applause and offers from elite domestic outfits after his commanding display for the Magpies last season. In reply to the rumoured switch, Lascelles said, āIām very happy here. You hear things, you hear rumours and stuff, but Iām a young player and I need to be playing football at a good club – and thatās what this is. This is the right club for me at the right time. We have a huge fanbase, an amazing manager, and this club is massive. It has so much history.ā
It has not been long since the Englishman signed his brand new contract extension with the Tyneside outfit. Lascelles is tied to the club for another 5 years and is highly favoured by the manager, Rafael Benitez. The centre-back has been rewarded with regular team selection the last term, racking up his total appearance tally to 103 for the club.
Benitez thrives in management with experienced heads in his team but Lascelles has proven to be the ideal man for his needs. The 24-year-old has remained disciplined in his position and has implemented the Spaniardās game perfectly.
Benitezās defensive system was enough to see the club finish all the way up to the 10th spot of the Premier League table last campaign. That is a massive feat since the side opened up the 2017/18 books with relegation concerns.
Lascelles arrived at St Jamesā Park on 9th August 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. Lascelles was quick to make an impression as he got named the club captain in 2016.
He made 35 appearances last season and netted in 3 crucial goals. This, in turn, prompted the Magpies to offer him the extension which is reported to be around Ā£50,000-a-week. Obviously, the bigger clubs will be able to offer him twice that amount any given day but the defenderās loyalty is admirable at this point.
He is an important cog in the Magpies system and is currently very hard to replace. Chancel Mbemba is not even considered for selection under the Benitez management and Curtis Good is set to leave the club.
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That leaves Ciaran Clark and Florian Lejeune as the only options and in the current market,Ā finding someone of Lascellesā calibre will not come cheap. So the words of encouragement coming from the defender might be a strong boost for the Magpies and their manager for sure.
