John Barnes has included Jamaal Lascelles in his best Premier League side made out of teams outside the traditional “big six”.
His list is composed of players based on overall ability, not just selected due to their performances over the current 2019/20 season.
Here’s Barnes’ side, which sees the likes of Jack Grealish and Wilfried Zaha miss out, along with his reason for selecting the Newcastle United skipper:
“Another quick, strong defender who is a brilliant leader for Newcastle, being their club captain.
“Purely because of his strength and his height, he’d be able to defend.”
While Lascelles is an integral part of the current Toon setup, an argument could be made that he isn’t even the best centre-half at Newcastle, with Fabian Schar a fan favourite and Federico Fernandez showing his quality this season.
Martin Dubravka may feel aggrieved to not get into this side over Jordan Pickford, with Sheffield United’s impressive goalkeeper Dean Henderson also being overlooked between the sticks.
Would any Newcastle players make it in your best Premier League XI outside the “big six”?
