Disastrous news for NUFC defender as his career takes a turn for the worse – Benitez won’t be impressed

As revealed by the Chronicle this morning, NUFC full-back Achraf Lazaar has been ‘frozen out’ at Serie A side Benevento by new boss Roberto De Zerbia, with him now set to face the next 4 and a half months on the sidelines before returning to pre-season training with Newcastle in July.

Italian reports have revealed that the new Benevento manager ‘does not rate’ Lazaar and has ‘concerns’ over his fitness, seeing him kicked off the Serie A side’s roster to accommodate the free agent signing of former Arsenal and Man City defender Bacary Sagna.

The Moroccan had been getting fairly regular game time under initial boss Marco Baroni, playing 9 of their first 11 games, however his sacking in October saw De Zerbia come in – and to say it’s gone down hill from here for Lazaar is an understatement.

Since his appointment he missed 7 straight games via a ‘knee injury’ and has been named on the bench just twice, failing to play a single minute for the bottom of the table Serie A side since mid November.

It sounds like the arrival of a new manager and the experienced Bacary Sagna hasn’t helped his cause, however this all sounds a little familiar too. The left-back played just over half an hour of Championship football all season after he arrived from Palermo in the summer of 2016, suggesting Rafa clearly didn’t like what he was seeing upon his arrival.

Where he goes from here we don’t know, but a move that was meant to revitalise his career and send him back to Newcastle with a spring in his step has done anything but..

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

One thought on “Disastrous news for NUFC defender as his career takes a turn for the worse – Benitez won’t be impressed

  1. No point battling other teams for a players signature if you’re then not going to give them a chance. There must have been something there to begin with, or we wouldn’t have signed him. At the time I believe we beat West Ham to his signature. He may well not be good enough, but he’s hardly had a chance to prove it either way. If Joselu gets a chance any new signing should. Not saying if they flop they shouldn’t be dropped. All i’m saying is if you’re going to commit to buying someone, you have to be prepared to give them a chance.

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