'Absolutely' - Newcastle United star out of contract in 2024 quizzed on St James' Park future

Jamaal Lascelles is loving life at Newcastle United as he enters the remaining six months of his current contract.

The Magpies' captain made just 11 appearances last season, only five of which were starts, but has returned to the fold on a more consistent basis in recent months in the absence of Sven Botman.

Indeed, the Derby-born defender has enjoyed his best run in the starting XI for over a year-and-a-half having appeared 18 times so far this term, one short of the total he acculmated between February 2022 to September 2023.

The 30-year-old is into his ninth full season as a Newcastle player after joining from Nottingham Forest. Lascelles has amassed nearly 250 appearances, the majority of which have come as club skipper.

A banner featuring the words "Championship to Champions League" was unveiled by United fan group Wor Flags prior to Saturday's 3-0 victory over Fulham, a sentence that simply sums up Lascelles' journey on Tyneside.

When Lascelles led Newcastle out against AC Milan on Wednesday, it was a day shy of being exactly seven years since he played in a 2-0 away win at Wigan Athletic in England's second tier.

Only Paul Dummett has been at the football club longer than Lascelles but his time on Tyneside could come to an end this summer.

Lascelles, as it stands, is out of contract at the end of the campaign, and while he admitted to loving life at St James' Park, he did to confirm whether or not a a new deal was in the pipeline.

"I absolutely love it here," Lascelles told Premier League Productions. "I've been here for a long time, I think it's eight years as captain. I've been here a really long time, not many players really do that. I love it.

"Now that I'm in the team and got a run of games, I feel in a really good place. We'll see, I'm just focusing on trying to do as well as I can."