Newcastle United captain set for another year at club after signing unannounced contract extension - journalist

Newcastle United have been signing secret contracts with players it seems as one player who everyone expected to leave the club this summer still has a year left on his deal.

The player in question in Jamaal Lascelles. The club captain hasn't kicked a ball all season as his recovery from ACL surgery last year hasn't gone quite as well as hoped.

Indeed, it's expected that Lascelles won't play at all this season which would have led us to believe that he'd have been allowed to leave when his contract expired at the end of the season.

While Callum Wilson's contract is due to expire in the summer, the injury-prone striker's return to fitness has given him a window in which to play his way into another contract, something that didn't seem possible for Lascelles.

However, The Athletic are now reporting that Jamaal Lascelles actually signed a contract extension with Newcastle last year and his deal will not expire this summer as previously expected.

There had been talk of Lascelles being handed another contract this season anyway as his leadership off the field is deemed to play a huge role in Newcastle's growth.

It now appears that the deal has already been done.

The good news is that Newcastle aren't seeing the signing of a new deal for Lascelles as a get out of jail free card if they fail to sign a right-sided centre-back this summer, and the club will still be actively pursuing fresh blood for that position.

With Newcastle playing in Europe next season, having the extra cover for certain positions is a must, and that's why we can absolutely see the value in giving Lascelles another year.

While we do still need to add a new defender to the roster, we now don't need to add two, which is what would have been the case had Lascelles left. He's not likely to be picked often, we're pretty sure of that, but at least he's there as an option.