Earlier this week, we parted ways with former club captain Jamaal Lascelles, seeing his Newcastle United tenure end after 12 years and 253 appearances.
The 32-year-old had truly seen it all throughout his time on Tyneside: relegation and promotion under Rafa Benitez, turbulent years under Steve Bruce pre-takeover, Champions League football and lifting the Carabao Cup high at Wembley just last March.
If you were to ask the man himself what his biggest challenge was, he might say leading the side through multiple relegation battles, or perhaps defending against Kylian Mbappe and PSG in the Champions League.
However, is Lascelles, now in the twilight of his playing career, about to embark on the real toughest test yet?
Days after his move to Leicester City, Jamaal Lascelles’ new club have found themselves in danger of back to back relegations after their 2025/26 campaign when from bad to worse this week.
It was confirmed on Thursday that the Foxes would be handed a six point deduction as a result of breaching PSR rules for overspending whilst they were in the Premier League.
The move takes them from 17th place (on 38pts) to 20th place (32pts), level on points with Blackburn and West Brom, and only above both clubs due to goal difference.
Lascelles is unlikely to be fit for this weekend’s game after such limited training over the past few month, but it’s a huge one for the Foxes as they travel to relegation rivals Birmingham, knowing a defeat could leave them in the drop zone.
Having recently sacked their third coach in just 14 months, the landscape of the club under Marti Cifuentes which Lascelles agreed to join is now looking a lot more different under former player Andy King.
During the 2016/17 campaign, Lascelles recorded a staggering 47 appearances in all competitions under Rafa Benitez as we won the Championship: the third most in the squad behind Jonjo Shelvey and Matt Ritchie.
And Lascelles may need to be available for close to every game Leicester has left in their campaign if they want to beat the drop to the third tier. It’s a lot very real prospect considering they’ve picked up just seven points from their last 10 league games.
During his time at St James’ Park, Lascelles quickly developed a reputation for his impeccable character and leadership capabilities, taking the reins as captain at such a young age ahead of far more experienced players, he was of course kept around by Eddie Howe even when he was barely a fringe player for those exact qualities.
And for a Leicester side going through such a tumultuous period both on and off the pitch, players like Lascelles are truly invaluable. If they were to survive relegation this season, you’d like to think a lot of credit will go to Lascelles and his influence on the pitch and in the changing rooms.
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