The Chronicle’s Ciaran Kelly has tipped Newcastle United defenders Fabian Schar and Florian Lejeune to reconsider their futures at St. James’ Park under Steve Bruce.
Schar and Lejeune were considered among the first names on Rafa Benitez’s teamsheets last season, but have found themselves often playing second fiddle to Federico Fernandez and Jamaal Lascelles.
Long-term injuries to Paul Dummett and Ciaran Clark have not opened the door for either to walk back into the starting line-up, either, and Kelly expects the pair will weigh up the benefits of fighting for one of the two centre-half spots in Bruce’s four-man backline.
It would not surprise the Chronicle writer if Bruce strives to sign another central defender in the summer window, too, as the boss would prefer playing with a high backline but Lascelles is the only centre-back currently at the club who is thought to have the pace needed for the system.
Should Schar or Lejeune be starting more often?
Yes, both
Schar
Lejeune
Neither
Schar has started just one Premier League game since sustaining a hamstring injury in our New Year’s Day defeat to Leicester City, while Lejeune has also not opened a top-flight fixture since the 3-0 Foxes loss.
Bruce called on Lejeune to feature from the bench away to Wolves on January 11, though the Molineux affair counts for 77 of the 97 minutes of league action the £5.4million-rated Frenchman has played since New Year’s Day.
Schar, having started our first nine games of the Premier League season, has played 109 of a possible 720 minutes since hobbling off at home to Brendan Rodger’s King Power Stadium natives.
Despite their slack run of action of late, no Toon centre-back has averaged more successful tackles per 90 Premier League minutes than Schar (2.4/3.4) and Lejeune (2.1/2.6), while Lejeune leads second-placed Schar for interceptions (2.6 and 2.4), per WhoScored data.
Schar also ranks second to Clark (1.1) for shots blocked (1.0) and second to Dummett (1.1) for passes blocked (0.9), while Lejeune only trails Lascelles (2.8/4.7) for aerial duels won (2.4/3.9).
Lejeune is under contract at St. James’ Park until the summer of 2022 on a £38,000-per-week contract, while £14.4m-rated Schar is under terms until 2021 on a £40k-p/w deal.
In other Newcastle United news, the club are proving to be an unappealing prospect for a long-term target.