Report: ‘Superb’ Newcastle player will not be sold in January after return to first-team action

Newcastle United club captain Jamaal Lascelles will absolutely not be sold in January following his return to the first-team.

Jamaal Lascelles could be considered a fringe player at Newcastle since Fabian Schar and Sven Botman forged a solid defensive partnership, and as such, many fans expected the skipper would be deemed surplus to requirements and moved on while the club could still get some money for him.

However, with Newcastle's failure to bring in any central defensive reinforcements in the summer, Lascelles remains on the books, and according to The Northern Echo it will stay that way come January too.

Now, with Sven Botman having missed the last few games through injury, Lascelles has been reinstated to first-team action and, in all fairness to the 29-year-old former Nottingham Forest man, he's not looked out of place.

Lascelles was in the team as Newcastle demolished PSG in the Champions League, he was part of the team that dumped treble-winners Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup and he's looked better than ever.

I'll admit I was shouting for him to be sold and for us to bring in someone younger and better - ideally, Fikayo Tomori from AC Milan, but Lascelles has really surprised me since his return to action.

With the Newcastle board ironing out their January transfer window plans this week, there's a strong suggestion that Jamaal Lascelles will be taken out of the shop window and any approaches will be refused which puts the blockers on the long-touted return to Nottingham Forest.

Another Eddie Howe masterclass in bringing out a player's true potential, means fans will actually be glad that he's now going nowhere.