Achraf Lazaar has told Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb that he is in talks with Sheffield Wednesday over a permanent move to Hillsborough, which would finally end his Newcastle nightmare.
The Chronicle claim Newcastle spent £2.9million to sign Lazaar from Italian side Palermo in the summer of 2016. He was expected to solve the left-back hole during the 2016-17 Championship campaign.
But the 27-year-old managed just nine appearances for Newcastle that season. He has since been on loan at Benevento in Italy, before joining Sheffield Wednesday in the January transfer window along with Rolando Aarons.
Lazaar stated that he is enjoying his time under Steve Bruce with the Owls, and although he has only managed four appearances – largely due to injury – he stated that he is in talks over making the switch permanent.
“Sheffield would like to sign me permanently,” Lazaar said. “We’re talking about it. I have a two-year contract with Newcastle. We’ll see.”
From Newcastle’s point of view, getting any kind of transfer fee for a player that has played 10 times in three seasons for you is impressive. He should be sold for any fee.
But from Lazaar’s point of view, the move is a huge positive – given that his time on the sidelines will have reduced his career prospects enormously.
Selling him is a must, and signing for Wednesday is a must for Lazaar.