Newcastle United have reportedly turned down a £25m bid from West Ham United for their centre-back, Jamaal Lascelles. Rafael Benitez has taken a firm stand that the player is not for sale under any circumstances this summer. However, there are fresh reports claiming that the Hammers are willing to come back with a refurbished offer, given the huge transfer kitty David Sullivan has gifted Manuel Pellegrini on his appointment as the club’s manager.
The Chilean boss is currently one of the highest paid managers in the Premier League with a contract worth around £10m per year. He has been swift to bring around change in the West Ham ranks by making four signings in Ryan Fredericks, Lukasz Fabianski, Issa Diop and Jack Wilshere.
However, the Hammers’ pursuit of Lascelles could be a bit concerning for the fans as the club is close to announcing the signing of yet another centre-half other than Diop, Fabian Balbuena. Corinthians has reportedly agreed to the sale of their Paraguayan defensive ace for £3.5m.
With the likes of Diop, Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna, Reece Oxford and Declan Rice already in the club, why is Pellegrini moving for yet another player in the same exact position? Unless one of the aforementioned names are sold off ahead of the 2018/19 campaign, West Ham might face a similar problem to the one that they faced last season that is, one position getting overstacked with players.
Rice is really coming into his own and could use more minutes on the senior team for further development. Oxford has also shown promise on his time away with Borussia Mönchengladbach. The duo could be shifted out of the club on loan agreements but that will still leave Ogbonna and the highly experienced Reid as benchwarmers.
Ogbonna was their best defensive presence last term other than Pablo Zabaleta and has a contract set to run until the summer of 2022. With interest rising from Napoli, maybe his sale will open up a starting spot for Lascelles.
Coming to Lascelles, the Newcastle man quite recently signed a brand new 5-year contract extension with the Tyneside outfit and has already racked up 103 appearances for the club. He starred in 35 games alone the last term and scored 3 crucial goals to help his side out of a relegation threat.
The Englishman is an important cog in the Magpies system and will be impossible to replace with the miserly spending attitude of Newcastle owner, Mike Ashley.
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With Benitez ready to fight for his best players, Pellegrini might have to come back with a heavily improved bid if he intends to land Lascelles.
