Achraf Lazaar has admitted that he needs to sit down with the Newcastle United hierarchy in the summer to discuss if the defender has a future at St. James’ Park.
Lazaar was one of the first direct casualties of Steve Bruce’s tenure on Tyneside with the boss omitting him from the club’s 25-man Premier League squad, before sanctioning a loan deal for the Moroccan to join Serie B outfit Cosenza Calcio.
But life back in Italy has not been as gratifying as the former US Palermo left-back may have envisaged, as Lazaar has only been able to make eight outings across all competitions having missed much of the campaign with a thigh muscle strain.
His intentions now fit are to help Cosenza stay afloat in the Italian second-tier once play can resume, with the Stadio San Vito-Gigi Marulla natives inside the drop zone and six points behind the relegation play-off positions.
Though once the 2019/20 season is eventually drawn to a close, Lazaar plans to sit down with Toon chiefs to see if he still has a role to play on Tyneside with his £9,000-per-week contract not expiring for another year.
“For those that arrive from Italy, the impact of English football is quite complicated,” Lazaar told Lions de l’Atlas. “I’ve always worked by giving my all to do as well as possible, but as I’ve said, I’ve had injuries that interrupted that progress.
“I found myself easily at here [Cosenza]. The objective is to help the club stay up in the league and to give the fans the satisfaction they deserve.
“At the moment, I’m focused on Cosenza. At the end of the season, we’ll evaluate with Newcastle what’s best for both of us.”
Does Lazaar deserve another chance at St. James' Park?
Yes
No
It would be greatly surprising if Bruce and the club’s hierarchy feel Lazaar has anything more to offer in Black and White once the current season is concluded, and will surely be looking at the summer window as our best chance of recouping some of the £2million awarded to Palermo for his signature in 2016.
Lazaar has scored once for Palermo during his eight Serie B outings, though has not been credited with an assist, created just two big chances to score, plays on average 0.8 key balls a league game, 15.6 accurate passes (75%), and wins just 3.8 (45%) of his total duels (3.5 ground, 0.3 aerial), per Sofa Score data.
We may not have a recognised left-back of our own with Danny Rose only on loan and Jetro Willems’ option to buy clause still unanswered, but Lazaar will not be the answer to whom can fill the void next term.
In other Newcastle United news, the club have been backed to reject the chance to sign a €10m man this summer.