In his column for the Chronicle, former Newcastle United defender Olivier Bernard has stated that he is excited to see Newcastle United signing Achraf Lazaar feature more prominently in the coming weeks.
Newcastle United brought in no less than 12 new players to St. James’ Park over the summer and arguably one of the most exciting signings was that of full-back Achraf Lazaar.
Following his brilliant campaign with Palermo last season, Lazaar had been courted by a host of clubs across Europe and for Newcastle to have signed the 24-year-old despite their status as a Championship side this season can be viewed as a major coup.
A bit surprisingly, Lazaar has not seen any action on the pitch whatsoever for Newcastle since his arrival to the club this summer and his only appearance for the Magpies came in the 2-0 EFL Cup victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers last month.
Nonetheless, ex-Newcastle star Olivier Bernard agrees with manager Rafael Benitez adopting a cautious approach with Lazaar and has stated that he is now really looking forward to seeing the Moroccan international in action on a consistent basis in the coming weeks.
Bernard wrote in his column for the Chronicle, “I’m really excited to see more from Achraf Lazaar in the coming weeks and months. Rafa Benitez brought the Morocco international in over the summer and has been taking his time to bed him into the Newcastle United first team.
“It has been a clever move by Rafa to slowly integrate Lazaar. I know as a foreigner who came to this country that it can take time to get used to the pace, intensity and physicality of English football.
“A good month or six weeks of training, as well as being introduced into games here and there, will really help Lazaar.
“Obviously there’s nothing that fully prepares you for a match situation until you actually get out there playing regularly, but Lazaar will have had as good a preparation as was possible.
“I can’t wait to see more of him though. Lazaar is a very technical player, has a very nice left foot and is extremely attack-minded. He could potentially become a regular once he’s settled – and I think Newcastle fans might come to really like him.”
