Could Achraf Lazaar leave Newcastle United in the summer transfer window?
Achraf Lazaar does not have a future at Newcastle United, according to The Shields Gazette.
The 25-year-old defender joined Newcastle from Italian club Palermo in the summer of 2016 for a transfer fee reported by Sky Sports to be worth £2 million.
Much was expected of the Morocco international left-back when he arrived at St. James’ Park last summer, but he failed to make an impact at the Magpies.
Lazaar failed to make a single start for Newcastle in the Championship last season and made only four appearances as a substitute in the league.
According to The Shields Gazette, the 25-year-old left-back does not have a future at Newcastle, who will play in the Premier League next season after winning automatic promotion from the Championship at the end of the 2016-17 campaign.
Meanwhile, Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez has revealed what he has told Tim Krul, Lazaar and Emmanuel Riviere. The three Newcastle players have been training with the club’s development squad.
“When you have too many players, what you can do is talk with them straight, and that’s what I did,” Benitez told The Shields Gazette when asked about the decision to send Krul, Lazaar and Riviere to the Academy.
“I told them ‘listen, we have too many players – my idea is this one’. We have to be sure that they understand what we want to do.
“You cannot be Championship or Premier League when you don’t have all the squad, all the players, that you want, because we are going a little bit late.
“You have to maximise the time that you have with your players. If someone has to stay at the Academy, they have to understand that it’s not personal, it’s professional.”
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