Lascelles looks set to stay at Newcastle United
By Declan Ryan
According to recent reports from Sky Sports News, West Ham submitted an initial £20m bid for Lascelles with another £5m of add-ons.
Jamaal Lascelles rightly received endless plaudits last season for his impervious presence at the back for Newcastle, receiving the Player of the Year award from both the club itself and Newcastle Toons unanimously.
Lascelles, 24, has long been linked with other Premier League clubs as Everton, Spurs and Chelsea all reported to have had interest last season. However, Newcastle’s skipper has frequently expressed his desire to remain at St. James’ Park and he put pen to paper on a long-term deal back in 2017 that will keep his contract running until 2023.
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The Hammers have already broken their transfer record this summer signing Toulouse and France U21 defender Issa Diop for £21.9m, but they will likely have to more than double that amount for Newcastle to even consider selling their captain to a Premier League rival.
Fortunately for Toon fans, the club rejected West Ham’s transfer request, and Rafa Benitez recently doubled down on this move. The Spaniard went public with his backing of Lascelles as Newcastle’s captain for years to come by stating:
“He was a key player for us last year and he has to be this year and for a long time to come in the future. The reality is that we don’t want to sell Jamaal. He is a key player for us and leader. We are happy with him.”
With £10m man Mikel Merino off the books and Matt Ritchie poised to join Championship outfit Stoke City, Newcastle are now in position to start buying players rather than selling them. Kenedy has rejoined the club on a one year loan and Ki Sung-yueng has arrived on a free transfer, but fans will want to see larger sums being spent if last season’s relegation scare is to be avoided next season.
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Selling Lascelles would be a disastrous move and almost certainly would see tensions between fans and owner Mike Ashley boil over into turmoil. Brief injury spells saw Newcastle’s captain miss a handful of games in the 17/18 season, but he still started 32 of his 33 Premier League appearances.
Benitez seems keen to keep the back end of last season’s side together with goalkeeper Martin Dubravka locked up on a permanent deal, as well as the back four of Dummett, Lascelles, Lejeune and Yedlin all under contract until at least 2021. And for good reason too – those five players were instrumental in the drastic reversal of form in 2018 that saved the club from relegation. Moreover, that defensive unit led Newcastle to the seventh best defensive record in the Premier League.
Continuity is a rarity in modern football, but there’s no doubting its value when you can build on such foundational strength. Lessons should be taken from Southampton who sold their star centre back, Virgil Van Dijk, for £75m and suffered heavily only narrowly escaping relegation.
It would likely take an offer of that magnitude for Newcastle to sell, but even then it’s incredibly difficult to put a price on the leadership and pride that Lascelles brings to the table.
With the cost of relegation so vast, West Ham will have to think again if they think £25m is even remotely close to Lascelles’ true value. Benitez knows what it takes to build a successful side in the top flight, and selling your star man is definitely not in the playbook.