Jamaal Lascelles

Biography

With England U18 and U19 caps, it’s no shock that both Spurs and Arsenal were keen on  Jamaal Lascelles. But it’d be us who captured his services first. Sure, we’re bigging things up a bit here. But the highly-rated Nottingham Forest defender came to us in spring 2012 on loan; boss Gary Smith prepping his squad for a relentless run of games in the hunt for a League One playoff spot.

Mark Roberts and Jon Ashton had been as dependable as ever throughout the campaign, but Lascelles offered Smith another option. He didn’t arrive with much experience of first team football at the City Ground, which is fair enough. But he certainly came well-thought of as one of English football’s brightest prospects. He was surely a name that many will come to know as his career flourishes in the years after his stay at Boro’.

Jamaal Lascelles: After Boro’

And it looks like we were right, for a change. After returning to Forest at the end of his loan spell, he signed for Newcastle United one year later. While he wasn’t thrown in at the deep end at Sid James’ Park, he went on to become a mainstay of the Magpies’ defence.