Will Jamaal Lascelles take on a lesser role or decide to leave Newcastle?

Veteran defender Jamaal Lascelles might have his days at Newcastle numbered after spending nearly a decade within the Magpies organization.

According to Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider, the captain of Newcastle is about to face a career-altering decision this summer. The Englishman is expected to see his playing time cut even shorter than it was last year—he appeared in only seven games, two of them starts, logging 218 minutes total in the Premier League—and he’s expected to be asked to either take on an even lesser role or inform the club about his willingness to depart St James’ Park on his way to greener pastures.

Even with NUFC playing more competitions next year, mainly thanks to their qualification for the upcoming UEFA Champions League, the veteran D-man will still find it very hard to rack up minutes in Eddie Howe’s defensive line. Obviously, considering his experience and his long-tenured presence around Newcastle, Howe will never oppose keeping him around to mentor and nurture the younger players of the team.

The influence is positive and Lascelles would definitely be a supremely great role player if he accepts the demotion to a very secondary plane within the first-time squad.

A potential further damaging development on Lascelles's front, according to the same report published on Football Insider, is the interest of Newcastle in Portuguese side Sporting CP defender Goncalo Inacio. The outlet reports that manager Eddie Howe aims to strengthen the squad in preparation for Champions League football and the defensive line, namely the center-back position, is one he might look into bolstering with an addition such as Inacio’s would be.

The same outlet reported in February that Nottingham Forest might entertain the idea of bringing Lascelles back to their club after he spent four full seasons playing Championship-level football with the Tricky Trees before his move to Tyneside, and on top of Nott Forest there might be many other suitors that would like the idea of having a player such as Lascelles joining them ahead of next season, whether that’s low-tier Premier League sides or high-level Championship clubs.

Newcastle has already seen the departure of Ciaran Clark, Chris Wood, and Matty Longstaff this summer as they reshape their squad, and Lascelles might be the next man to join them on his way out of St James’ Park.