Rafa Benitez is confident that Jamaal Lascelles will be at the club next season, amid interest from the top six.
Benitez’ old side, Liverpool, have just joined the list of clubs that are interested in signing the 24-year-old but the Spaniard is not surprised he his gaining this much attention.
Liverpool are looking for a young defender that can partner Virgil Van Dijk and are hoping to sign an English defender in order to have a British core to their side.
Speaking to Chronicle Live, Benitez was full of praise for his captain:
I think he will stay here, and hopefully for the long term.
He has huge potential and big clubs will look at him because he is a young, English centre-back.
He has all the attributes to be a target for all top teams because you can see from his performances over the last two years he keeps getting better and better.
But I think that for his future, and for his development, that he stays in a place where he can play and he can improve and continue to keep getting better with us.
Lascelles played in 33 Premier League games this season and scored three goals as Newcastle finished in 10th place and believes that he can be part of the process of getting them back to where they belong in the Premier League:
This is the right club for me at the right time. We have a huge fanbase, an amazing manager, and this club is massive. It has so much history.
As captain, I want to see how far we can go – and potentially take it back to where it belongs.
Other clubs battling Liverpool for Lascelles are Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton and West Ham United but it looks like he is not leaving St James Park anytime soon.
