da gbg bet： According to a recent report from The Northern Echo, Newcastle United are seeking to get rid of defender Achraf Lazaar this month. The 26-year-old made the move to St James’ Park back in 2016 but has struggled to command regular football at the North East heavyweights, thus prompting manager Rafa Benitez to reportedly seek to offload the Morocco international before the international window closes on August 31.
da dobrowin： And given the £900,000-rated (as per Transfermarkt) flop’s somewhat disastrous time at the Premier League club, the left back will surely go down as one of Newcastle’s biggest transfer blunders in recent times.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, the 26-year-old has been unable to show any kind of form when donning a Newcastle shirt in the last few years, with the left back earning just four Championship appearances in his first season at the club in 2016/17, all of which came from the bench.
And while he started five domestic cup matches that term, he simply wasn’t able to dispose Paul Dummett of the left back spot in the league, and his misery was further compounded last season when, despite Dummett sustaining an injury in their opening day defeat to Tottenham, Lazaar still didn’t make Benitez’s matchday squad in the succeeding league games.
Unsurprisingly, the Morocco international was soon after shipped out on loan to Italian side Benevento, and his struggles there underline just how much of a blunder Newcastle made in bringing him to St James’ Park, as despite signing for the bottom club in Serie A, he still wasn’t able to command regular football, appearing just nine times before reportedly falling out with manager Roberto De Zerbi.
Thus, the left back wasn’t even able to force his way into the bottom side in the Italian top-flight to underline just how much he was lacking in the sufficient quality to provide the depth needed at Newcastle – it was a poor decision to bring him to the club.
And with reports suggesting that the Magpies are seeking to offload the defender this summer, the fact they are seeking to do that just two years and ten appearances after joining underlines just how big a transfer blunder they made luring him to the North East in the first place.
In fact, given how little he has given the club in an area of the squad that isn’t blessed with depth suggests that Lazaar will go down as one of the biggest transfer blunders the Magpies have made in recent times.
Newcastle fans… what do you think? Let us know!