Newcastle United’s winless run continued on Saturday as Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Eddie Howe’s side made it five matches without a win for the Magpies.
A number of issues have been a factor in their poor run of form but left-back Dan Burn’s disappointing performances have undoubtedly been one of the biggest reasons.
The former Brighton defender has recorded a Sofascore rating of 7.0 or higher in one of his last eight appearances in all competitions, including a woeful score of 5.7 in the EFL Cup final.
He was subbed off for now-fit left-back Matt Targett late on in the match at the weekend and Howe now has a big decision to make on who to go with in that position moving forward.
One player who does not appear in contention to fill that spot, though, is ex-Norwich full-back Jamal Lewis as the Northern Ireland international has not even made the bench since the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in February.
How has Jamal Lewis performed at Newcastle?
The 25-year-old has featured once in 2023 and played 11 minutes of Premier League football so far this season, which suggests that the left-back is not in Howe’s plans as a frontline option.
Newcastle signed Lewis for an initial fee of £15m from Norwich in the summer of 2020 and he has only played 35 matches in all competitions in almost three years at the club.
The defender, who journalist Craig Hope described as “rusty” earlier this year, endured a difficult debut campaign with Steve Bruce at the helm with the 5 foot 10 flop averaging a dismal Sofascore rating of 6.48 across 24 appearances – ranking him 26th (bottom) in the squad that season.
He then averaged a score of 6.46 in five Premier League matches, losing 80% of his aerial duels, in the 2021/22 campaign before his struggles in the current term.
How much is Jamal Lewis worth now?
His lacklustre performances on the pitch have been reflected in his market value during his time at the club. Shortly after signing from Norwich in January 2021, Lewis’ expected transfer value (xTV) was £19.6m (€22.2m) via Football Transfers but that has now plummeted to just £3.2m (€3.6m) at the time of writing.
This means that his xTV has dropped by a staggering 84% in less than three full seasons at St. James’ Park and as such, Howe must finally ditch the defender this summer, despite his contract expiring in 2025.
Lewis is behind Burn and Targett in the pecking order and his dismal performances in the top-flight for the club in recent seasons do not suggest that he has the quality to work his way back into the starting XI, meaning his time should be up on Tyneside.
Therefore, Howe and Dan Ashworth must finally cash in on the ex-Canary and recoup as much of the £15m the club paid for him before his value drops further.
Ahead of the January transfer window, it was reported that the Magpies received enquiries about the defender’s availability with that indicating there could be suitors waiting in the wings to sign him.
