Nottingham Forest are reportedly 'keen' on re-signing academy graduate Jamaal Lascelles - but the Newcastle United captain is similarly keen to stay and fight for his position at the club.
Lascelles left the City Ground for good in 2015 after initially being loaned back to the Reds, alongside Karl Darlow, for the following season after signing for Newcastle the previous summer. The 29-year-old has gone on to make more than 200 appearances for the North East side over the last eight seasons, but just six of those have come this season.
Since starting the fifth match of the Premier League season against Liverpool at Anfield, the Derby-born defender has only featured three more times as a late substitute in the league, as well as two further appearances from the off in the second and third rounds of the Carabao Cup. Lascelles was not even named in the matchday squad when Forest visited St James' Park on the opening weekend of the season.
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In quotes carried by our colleagues at ChronicleLive, the player states that their lack of playing time is something that they "completely understand" and "totally support that" decision due to Newcastle's fine defensive record so far this season, keeping seven clean sheets and conceding the joint-fewest goals alongside Arsenal in the Premier League before the World Cup break. Lascelles added that he "will always be there when called upon" and "if it's not on the pitch, it will be in the dressing room".
The Sun newspaper are now claiming that these comments 'spell bad news' for the Reds as they are 'keen to re-sign' the player during the January transfer window. Lascelles is not the only defender Forest have been linked with ahead of the market reopening, as Everton's Michael Keane has also previously been linked.
What would you make of Forest re-signing Lascelles? Have your say in the comments...
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