Newcastle will suddenly make a big mistake if they sell the 29-year-old player before Thursday
The transfer window is now closed in the UK, but Newcastle United could suddenly make an important decision regarding Jamaal Lascelles.
Clubs in England and elsewhere in Europe cannot sign the Newcastle captain anymore, but he could have a chance to head to the Middle East.
Indeed, it is reported that Al Shabab, who play in the Saudi Pro League, is interested in signing Lascelles this week.
The transfer window in Saudi Arabia will close on Thursday and they are considering whether to bid for the 29-year-old.
Lascelles is expected to leave Newcastle in the summer, amid reports that he will not be able to extend his contract at St James’ Park.
This means he will leave the club for nothing next year – unless he is sold now.
Eddie Howe did not want to lose Lascelles on the last day, and the Newcastle owner got his wish.
But now the Magpies’ resolve can be tested once again and what they have to do with Captain Toon is clear.
Newcastle cannot sell Jamaal Lascelles this week
Although it has been a long time since Lascelles has started regularly at Tyneside, it would be a real disaster if the club let him go this week.
He may be the fourth-choice central defender right now, but his presence is certainly necessary because of injury concerns involving Sven Botman and Fabian Schar.
Newcastle do not have a lot of options at the heart of defence right now, having opted against signing a centre-back during the summer transfer window.
That may have been a mistake, and it will be an even bigger error if the club decide to let Lascelles leave this week.
While he might be keen on the opportunity to go elsewhere and play regular football, Newcastle would be leaving themselves massively light at the back with no chance of bringing in a replacement.
If he stays, Lascelles will likely not play a lot of minutes in black and white this season.
But with more games and limited cover, his absence would soon be felt if we decided to let him leave.
To be clear, Newcastle are set to sell Lascelles to Al Shabab this week.
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The £45m star ‘convinces’ he did the right thing by signing a new contract amid interest from Newcastle
Newcastle United have been unable to sign a new centre-back this summer despite watching Edmond Tapsoba for most of the transfer window.
There is one player interested in the position, one of which is that Newcastle are eyeing 24-year-old Burkina Faso international Edmond Taposoba from Bayer Leverkusen.
The 6’4″ tall defender is often considered a target for Eddie Howe but for some reason no offers have been made.
Premier League side Tottenham are also very interested in Tapsoba and are preparing.
made an offer of £39 million.
Tapsoba has now signed an agreement keeping him at Bayer 04 until 2028
Bayer Leverkusen is believed to have held more than £45m in cash and that could set the Warblers down.
Whatever the reason, Tapsoba has now signed a contract extension with Bayer, keeping him at the club until 2028.
Speaking to Bayer 04’s official website, Tapsoba said:
“The fan support for the team has been fantastic, our team is improving year by year and I have full confidence that I have the best conditions at Bayer 04 for a successful future.
“
Newcastle’s inaction looks like an expensive mistake, as Sven Botman and Fabian Schar face a race against time to be able to match Brentford.
Not finding a central defender can cost Newcastle this season
Saturday showed how disastrous our defense was with the loss of Botman, if we lose him and Schar it will leave a very questionable defense with Jamaal Lascelles, Paul Dummett and Dan Burn are our midfield picks.
That is a difficult prospect.
Tapsoba may not be the answer, but it’s hard to understand that bringing in another central defender is a bad idea.
Fortunately, contracts are barely worth the paper and if Newcastle decide in January that Tapsoba is their man, they could still stand a chance.
We’ll see how things go until then.
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