Former Newcastle United fullback Achraf Lazaar is going through a complicated time in his career.
The player currenlty finds himself without a club to play for, despite feeling he could’ve been with Morocco’s national team in the World Cup.
Lazaar was this week interviewed by Il Posticipo, and talked about the reasons why he reached his current situation. He recalled that when joining Newcastle, he ended up going to the bench, and didn’t accept that very well.
“At Newcastle, a very big team compared to my previous ones. There were high-level players and I struggled to carve out space,” Lazaar told Il Posticipo when asked when he ‘got lost’ in his career.
Coach Rafa Benitez really wanted me, but then things turned out differently. I didn’t accept when they put me on the bench, staying out was difficult. But everything happens by God’s will. I learned this lesson.
In was in the summer of 2016 that Newcastle spent €2.85m to sign Lazaar from Palermo. He only stayed with the Magpies for one full season, though, as he was later loaned out to the likes of Benevento, Sheffield Wednesday and Cosenza.
In February 2021, when he was released by Newcastle, he only had a total of ten appearances for the club, and that’s when his tough situation began.
Lazaar soon joined Watford, but only made five appearances in his few months there. In the summer of 2021, he moved to Portuguese club Portimonense, and only played four games for them in one entire year.
Last summer, he was once again released, and couldn’t find a club to play for this time, being unemployed for a few months now.
