It was a pretty big deal the day that Newcastle United won the race to sign Jamal Lewis for £15million from Norwich City.
Even on the back of lockdown gloom and amid the unhappy latter years of the Mike Ashley era, there was a little bit of optimism in the air when Northern Ireland international Lewis joined Ryan Fraser, Callum Wilson and Jeff Hendrick in a summer shopping spree that was deemed one of the better ones under the Sports Direct magnate.
Lewis would have been a Liverpool player just weeks earlier had the Kop side saw a £10million bid accepted for his services. Instead, the Reds refused to raise their stake, Newcastle paid the asking price and the pacy full-back was suddenly looking forward to a different challenge under Steve Bruce.
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When Lewis signed he declared: "Newcastle's such a great club with such history and I knew it was an opportunity I would love to take with both hands."
Given Newcastle's status as an ambitious club that want to challenge for honours with a thriving fanbase, it's hard to see Lewis altering his stance too much. Unless he's told his time is up of course, few players will stay where they aren't wanted.
But Lewis will still be confident he can be part of the future at Newcastle if he's given that opportunity. For a start, he is definitely the type of player that can fit into United's attacking philosophy.
And it's a very different tactical outlook to the days of Bruce and Ashley. Lewis made a solid enough start on Tyneside and was part of a Bruce team that beat West Ham, Burnley and Everton in the opening months of the season.
The former Norwich star played 35 matches in all for club and country in 2020/21 but his second season at United was more frustrating. In fact, when Bruce started Lewis in a 1-1 draw at home to Wolves in early 2021 it would be the last time he'd do so in a Premier League game.
He started the 2021/22 campaign on the bench and was afforded just six minutes in the 4-1 defeat away to Man United - despite having impressed in pre-season with some promising overlapping runs. Despite paying the big fee for Lewis, Bruce preferred to play Javier Manquillo as Newcastle started to slip down the table.
Lewis was thrown a lifeline when Eddie Howe arrived last November and started in the 1-1 draw against Norwich and the vital first win of the season against Burnley. But two games later he limped off with a hamstring injury at Liverpool in a 3-1 loss and it would prove to be his last efforts for Newcastle of the season.
A groin problem followed the hamstring issue and Howe made the difficult decision to leave Lewis out of this 25-man squad for the second half of term. Lewis flew to Germany to get the groin issue fixed but should be now fit and available for the 2022/23 season.
The defender returns to a squad that have just signed Matt Targett for £15million in total with Paul Dummett handed a one-year extension to his contract meaning there are arguably three players fighting for one position. Whether the time has come for Dummett to move into the more central role is another question for Howe as a new season starts in earnest.
Howe didn't play down Lewis' chances when asked at the end of last season when he said: "I'd love to see Jamal back in pre-season and show us the player he can be."
At 24, he will feel he has every chance going forward and the reality is he could yet save Newcastle money if Howe and his backroom team can get the balance right with him.
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