NOTTINGHAM FOREST have made Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles one of their key summer targets as they look to strengthen in the wake of their promotion to the Premier League.
Forest secured the final place in next season’s top-flight as they beat Huddersfield Town in last weekend’s play-off final at Wembley, and now the dust has begun to settle on their triumph, thoughts at the City Ground have turned to the transfer business that will be required if Steve Cooper’s side are to have a fighting chance of Premier League survival.
Signings are anticipated in a number of different positions, with defensive reinforcements a key priority. Forest want to turn Djed Spence’s loan deal from Middlesbrough into a permanent transfer, but are also keen to recruit at least one centre-half.
Lascelles has been identified as a leading target, and while Eddie Howe is more than happy to keep hold of the 28-year-old for at least another season, the Newcastle head coach will consider offers for a player that struggled to hold down a regular first-team spot in the second half of last season.
Having been a virtual ever present under Steve Bruce when fit, Lascelles found himself shuffled down the pecking order following Howe’s recruitment of Dan Burn in January.
Burn and Fabian Schar formed Newcastle’s first-choice centre-half pairing for much of the second half of the season, with Howe tending to play with a flat back four rather than a back five, which meant Lascelles found himself on the substitutes’ bench for 12 of the Magpies’ final 16 matches.
His prospects of securing a regular starting spot next season are likely to be damaged further if Newcastle make a central-defensive signing of their own this summer, with Howe and the rest of the Magpies’ recruitment team continuing to push hard as they attempt to thrash out a deal for Lille’s Sven Botman.
If, as is hoped, Botman agrees to move to Tyneside, Lascelles will find himself as Newcastle’s fourth-choice centre-half at best.
He is contracted to St James’ Park until the summer of 2024, so Newcastle will be able to demand a significant sum for his services if Forest officials opt to firm up their current interest.
Derby-born Lascelles has close ties to the City Ground, having progressed through Forest’s youth ranks before making his senior debut for the club in January 2012.
He rejoined Forest on a season-long loan after making the switch to Newcastle in the summer of 2014, and made 67 senior appearances for the club before eventually making the full-time switch to Tyneside ahead of the 2015-16 season.
He would be installed as one of Forest’s senior defenders if he agreed to return to his boyhood club this summer, with Joe Worrall, Steve Cook and Scott McKenna having played as three centre-halves during Sunday’s final at Wembley.
He might not be the only Newcastle player rejoining a newly-promoted club this summer, with Bournemouth continuing to show an interest in their former winger Matt Ritchie.
Like Lascelles, Ritchie struggled for game time last season, and Howe hinted that the Scotsman could be moving on when he spoke glowingly of his contribution to Newcastle over a number of years after he handed him a brief substitutes’ appearance in the final game of last season at Burnley.
Meanwhile, Newcastle youngster Mo Sangare has completed a permanent switch back to his former side Accrington Stanley. The 23-year-old came through the academy ranks at the League One side before moving to Tyneside to link up with the Magpies’ Under-23s squad.
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