The club captain agreed on a new six-year deal with Newcastle United on Thursday.
Jamaal Lascelles officially signed his new contract with Newcastle United on Thursday, committing himself to the club long-term.
It comes at a time of unknowns at Newcastle, however; will Mike Ashley be sticking around? Will Rafa Benitez still be in the job at the end of the season? Are the club facing a genuine threat of relegation this year?
So for Lascelles to commit, naturally questions will be there over his actual commitment to the club – would he jump ship if Newcastle were relegated?
According to Lascelles himself, he absolutely wouldn’t.
“Would I leave? No. I’d be here. I’m part of this team,” he said, reports the Chronicle. “If we were to get relegated, I would have been part of that team and I would want to be part of the team that gets promoted.”
Although the club captain was also adamant that it will never come to that.
“No,” he said. “We’re not going to get relegated at all, it’s not happening.”
But while he assures the fans that he wouldn’t leave in that event, it does still leave the question of a potential release clause in his contract.
Lascelles is firmly at the point where he could secure a decent move to a more comfortable side in the Premier League but a six-year deal makes any move a lot more difficult for him – unless he negotiates the ‘compromise’ of an escape clause.
According to Lascelles, however, no such clause exists in his new contract.
“There is actually no clause where I can escape,” he told the Chronicle. “I didn’t want there to be – it is not even a conversation that took place.
“I am happy here and over the moon to sign for six years. I was buzzing when I got offered a new deal. I am happy to see out a lot of my career here.”
Assuming Lascelles is being genuine, that’s a bold move from the player. He could easily have demanded such a clause as a safety against any problems at Newcastle and yet he seems committed for the long haul.
You have to think it’s exactly the attitude Newcastle need to get their season back on track.
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