Jamaal Lascelles has spoken of his pride at captaining Newcastle United for the seventh season in a row at St James' Park. The former Nottingham Forest centre-half took over the job from Fabricio Coloccini back in the summer of 2016 after passing a pre-season audition in Dublin under Rafa Benitez.
Back then the former Liverpool boss assigned Lascelles numerous leadership tasks that summer as he felt his vocal presence and honesty suited him to the job, even as a 22-year-old.
Lascelles had previously caught Benitez's attention during a 3-1 defeat at Southampton when he made his feelings clear to senior players after a capitulation on the South Coast. But once some bigger earners had left the scene, the foundations for Newcastle's return to the Premier League a year later were built and Lascelles played a big part in it.
