Jamaal Lascelles set for medical at Championship side as 12-year stint at Newcastle United to come to an end
Eddie Howe said on Saturday night after Newcastle United's crushing defeat at Liverpool that the only bit of transfer business he expects the club to do before today's 7 pm deadline is the exit of Jamaal Lascelles.
When asked about potential incoming deals, Eddie Howe offered up a simple one-word response of "no", but when the attention switched to potential exits, Howe conceded that Jamaal Lascelles could leave the club before the window closes.
As is the Newcastle United way, we've waited until the final day of the window for anything to happen, but it is looking like Lascelles' 12-year tenure at the club will come to an end today.
Championship clubs Birmingham City and Leicester City were the frontrunners over the weekend, and there's always been a hint of interest from Turkey in the 32-year-old.
Jamaal Lascelles is heading to the East Midlands for a medical
Rumours started to circulate last night on social media that Leicester City had won the race for the defender, with Sky Sports now confirming that story on their live transfer feed (at around 9am).
The club captain will leave behind an impressive legacy. Coming to Newcastle from Nottingham Forest alongside Karl Darlow, he quickly became an important first-team player.
After an explosive post-match interview where Lascelles laid into his teammates, who he felt weren't giving their all, Lascelles was handed the captaincy and in his first season as skipper led the Magpies to the top of the Championship.
Jamaal Lascelles Newcastle exit seemed inevitable
While Lascelles has barely played recently, he's still seen as an important figure in the dressing room and that was clear when Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier called up Jamaal Lascelles to lift the Carabao Cup trophy with them at Wembley.
It took Lascelles a long time to recover from his ACL surgery, which he went through around the same time as Sven Botman, and that seemed like it may have been time for him to move on.
Since then, his appearances have been extremely limited, and even amid a defensive injury crisis this season, Lascelles wasn't called upon despite reports suggesting he wasn't injured, so his exit does seem inevitable.
