Achraf Lazaar has entered a crucial few days in determining his future amid interest from Italy and Portugal, per TuttoMercatoWEB, six-months after being released by Newcastle.
The Moroccan moved to St James’ Park from Palermo in 2016 for £2m and was awarded a five-year contract. But Lazaar failed to make the grade on Tyneside and the Toon agreed to mutually terminate his contract this February.
Lazaar featured just 10 times for the Magpies first-team during his four-and-a-half-year spell with the club. The last of his appearances came in August 2017, when Rafa Benitez introduced the 18-cap defender from the bench against Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup.
Between making his last Newcastle appearance four years ago and leaving the club this February, Lazaar enjoyed three loan spells. He joined Benevento for the 2017/18 season, Sheffield Wednesday in January 2019 and Cosenza for the 2019/20 campaign.
Neither of his moves were enough to convince Benitez or later Steve Bruce to offer the full-back another shot. With Bruce ultimately giving Newcastle the green light to tear Lazaar’s contract up, before joining Watford as a free agent.
However, his Vicarage Road stay would only last four-months before Lazaar was back in free agency. And the defender is still to seal his next adventure, but has entered the thoughts of Italian and Portuguese sides.
Serie B strugglers Ternana and mid-table Alessandria are considering taking Lazaar back to Italy’s second-tier. He is also very popular in Portugal, and will soon select which team to join before next Tuesday’s deadline. Which Sicnoticias claim will be Portimonense.
The Portuguese publication expect the 29-year-old will join the fifth-placed Primeira Liga side on a two-year contract. His deal will also feature a €20m (£17m) release clause.
Newcastle flop to £17m release clause at Portimonense for Lazaar
It would be some turn up for Lazaar to go from Newcastle flop to Portimonense star with a £17m break clause in just six-months. His Watford stay hardly instilled much confidence in the Moroccan turning his career around, either.
Lazaar made just five appearances for the Hornets, starting two, with one coming in the final game with promotion already sealed. Now, he could join Portimonense, who sit fifth in the Portuguese top-flight after the first three games of the season.
Manager Paulo Sergio will also hope Lazaar will improve the Estadio Municipal backline upon moving to the Algarve. Portimonense have conceded 62 goals in 54 games under the former Hearts boss, compared to 56 scored across all competitions.
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