Birmingham City are reportedly plotting a late move for experienced Newcastle United defender Jamaal Lascelles.placeholder image
Birmingham City are reportedly plotting a late move for experienced Newcastle United defender Jamaal Lascelles. | Getty Images/ Canva
Birmingham City and Leicester City have expressed an interest in an experienced Newcastle United star
Birmingham City are reportedly plotting a late move for experienced Newcastle United defender Jamaal Lascelles.
Sky Sports understands Chris Davies’ side are one of six Championship clubs that have made enquiries about the 32-year-old’s availability as he approaches the final months of his contract with the St James’ Park outfit.
Lascelles has struggled for minutes this season and is currently behind the likes of Sven Botman, Dan Burn, Malick Thiaw, Fabian Schar and Emil Krafth in the Newcastle pecking order. He’s played just two league matches all season and has been on the pitch for a combined total of 19 minutes, with his most recent outing coming in September during a 2-1 defeat to title hopefuls Arsenal.
Lascelles could leave Newcastle on deadline day
Lascelles joined Newcastle in the summer of 2014, and is by some distance the club’s longest-serving player.
He even captained the team between 2016 and 2024 following in the footsteps of players like Fabricio Coloccini, Kevin Nolan, Scott Parker, Alan Shearer and Rob Lee.
The Derby-born defender has been an important character in the dressing room for several years, but is now thought to be surplus to requirements in the North East.
West Ham United along with a number of clubs in Turkey have since been linked with the defender, according to Sun Sport, but at this stage the most concrete reports of interest have come from the Championship, with Birmingham and Leicester being two of the confirmed clubs to have made ‘enquiries’.
Why Lascelles could be a shrewd signing for Birmingham City
Over the course of the last 12 years, Lascelles has been a central part of Newcastle’s rise from the Championship to the upper echelons of the division.
He joined from Nottingham Forest after impressing at Championship level in a joint-deal alongside Karl Darlow for a figure of £7m. The pair went back to the City Ground on loan in 2014/15 to continue their development for a season as part of the deal. Lascelles struggled for gametime initially in 2015/16 under Steve McLaren in the club’s relegation season, but became an important figure once Rafa Benitez became manager.
The centre-back became captain during the latter months of that season and went on to lead the club to the Championship title in 2016/17 while making the PFA Team of the Season. He remained pivotal as Newcastle finished midtable for the next five league campaigns despite eventually falling down the pecking order when the Saudi takeover was completed in October 2021.
Overall, he’s played 253 matches for the Magpies, including 177 at Premier League level. He also made five appearances in the Champions League during the 2023/24 campaign, and played the full 90 minutes in the club’s famous 4-1 victory over PSG.
He’d offer invaluable experience to Birmingham’s dressing room, great leadership and a huge threat from set pieces.However, the risk of signing him is the fact he’s only recently returned from an ACL injury and has struggled with numerous muscle injuries throughout the last few seasons.
If Davies can keep him matchfit, he’d likely offer a huge boost in the team’s push for a top six finish.
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