OPINION
Jose Mourinho’s sacking by Manchester United earlier in the season would seemingly have no bearing on events up at St. James’ Park, but Newcastle United might have more of a lucky escape than they could have imagined when the Portuguese boss was given the boot.
According to a report from ESPN, Mourinho was keen on taking Magpies captain Jamaal Lascelles to Old Trafford to try and solve some of his well-documented defensive problems prior to his dismissal.
The report claims that the 25-year-old was one of several candidates shortlisted by Mourinho back in December.
For the Toon Army’s sake, it’s a good job he was fired.
Lascelles might not have been the most obvious choice for the armband when Rafa Benitez gave him the nod a couple of years ago, but he has been immense in his role ever since, and has really grown into strong leader and integral member of the Magpies’ defence.
In a squad short on gritty characters, his vocal presence is priceless, but that almost certainly would;t have stopped Mike Ashley from putting a price on him.
It’s hard to foresee a situation where a big club came in for a Newcastle player with a decent wad of cash and the owner didn’t fall over himself to make the deal happen.
Footballing matters are not his priority, but the loss of Lascelles would have been a disastrous decision that even he would have lived to regret.
Thankfully, it never happened, but Newcastle fans may just shudder at what might have been.
