Allan Saint-Maximin believes Jamaal Lascelles is the strongest player at Newcastle United right now.
The 25-year-old has answered some quickfire questions on his Toon teammates for the Premier League’s official YouTube channel, and praised the captain for his physicality.
He called himself the quickest alongside Joe Willock, while funniest player went to Bruno Guimaraes. Is there anything that man can’t do?!
But when it came to the strongest player at St James’ Park, Saint-Maximin had to go with the skipper.
“The strongest player would be Jamaal Lascelles,” he said.
Not the first time Lascelles has been called Newcastle’s strongest player
Saint-Maximin thinks Lascelles is the strongest player in Eddie Howe’s squad, and he’s not the only one. Dan Burn and Ryan Fraser came to the same conclusion earlier this year.
They asked who Newcastle’s strongest player was in terms of FIFA 22 ratings, and they were quick to turn to the central defender.
“He [Lascelles] should be, he’s in the gym four times a day. He eats weights up – he actually eats them for breakfast,” Fraser said.
But while he might be the strongest, Lascelles’ power isn’t getting him minutes on the pitch.
Frustrating season for strongman Lascelles
While Newcastle are flying high, Lascelles has been watching on from the bench. The 28-year-old has only started two games this season – the League Cup win over Tranmere and the Premier League defeat to Liverpool.
Other than that, he has been limited to late substitute cameos. Instead, Howe has gone with either Fabian Schar and Dan Burn or Schar and Sven Botman as his centre-back duo.
It’s certainly worked, as the Magpies have one of the toughest defences in the Premier League. Lascelles has instead been forced to watch on as a substitute, but continues to be praised for his role behind the scenes.
Howe recently praised Lascelles for his leadership and work ethic in training, and he will hope to start in Wednesday night’s League Cup clash with Crystal Palace.
If he does start, he will be keen to show off his strength and do his best to send Newcastle through to the next round of the competition.
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