Lazio have identified Newcastle defender Jamaal Lascelles as a transfer target this summer, according to Il Messaggero.
The Italian news outlet claim that the Serie A club have profiled the type of defender they want at the Stadio Olimpico and 6’1″ [Transfermarket] ace Lascelles is ticking many boxes in their hunt for reinforcements.
Il Messaggero report that the Magpies’ enforcer would require a price of up to £12.4million. The 25-year-old was a mainstay at St James’ Park and Rafael Benitez’s captain in the last Premier League campaign.
Lascelles joined Newcastle in 2014 from Nottingham Forest for £4.4million, with any potential deal to Lazio seeing his valuation rise to three times that amount.
OPINION
Should Rafael Benitez remain at St James’ Park this summer then there is no doubt that keeping Lascelles at the club will be one of his main objectives. The 25-year-old stopper was influential in the middle of a back-five which saw the Magpies turn their dreadful start to the season around. The 6’1″ defender [Source: Transfermarket] has become a great captain at Newcastle and has been at the club for many of their hardest years, including their drop down to the Championship. Should Benitez decide to sign a new contract and the club eventually seal their ongoing takeover talks then the future is looking bright at Newcastle, and there is no doubt Lascelles will want to stick around for that. There is no hiding the fact that Lazio currently holds a bigger chance of earning European football, despite missing out this year. The only way Lascelles will leave the club is if he is drawn to the prospect of Europe, but with a potential takeover on the horizon, the defender could stick around to see if he could achieve that at his club.
