Newcastle United star has already addressed issue amid fresh transfer talks & contract uncertainty

Jamaal Lascelles has already spoken about his lack of game time amid links with a deadline day exit. The centre-back has struggled for regular starts over the last year, with the standard rising at St James' Park.

The 30-year-old Magpies skipper has still made 14 league appearances this season, but it's no secret that he is not a first-choice centre-back. That has led to talk of an exit, with interest from Turkey, in particular, according to reports. The Chronicle report that Besiktas have circled back for fresh negotiations, but Newcastle would want a deadline day replacement before selling.

Whether Newcastle want to offload Lascelles is one thing, but if it's the defender's lack of game time in question, that is something he has already addressed during an interview with The Telegraph just a few months ago.

“There were a lot of people probably writing me off saying ‘his time is done’,” he said. “But I will always say I can look myself in the mirror having given 100 per cent and done everything that I can for everybody: for myself and for the club.

“It was difficult at the start getting used to the change because if I was fit I always played at Newcastle. But maturity is a huge factor and you gain things if the team is playing well even if you are not playing.

“I was wise enough to realise that ‘OK, I might not be playing but I am at a club that might get into the Champions League’. I was in a fantastic situation. A situation most people dream to be in.

“So, I wasn’t going to sulk; I wasn’t going to spit my dummy out. I was going to cherish every single moment because it was massive and it might not happen again. I was going to support everybody in the same way that people had supported me when I played. When you have players like that who put the badge before themselves it provides a real unity in the team. And then if your time comes take it.”