Reports: Newcastle Monitoring MLS Defender

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Harry Savill (Editor) in Categories, Transfers // 2 Comments

Happy Kemar

Newcastle are apparently monitoring 22 year-old New York Red Bulls' left back, Kemar Lawrence, according to a number of American news outlets.

Lawrence has been on a conspicuously hot run of form recently. His performances in this summer’s Copa America won praise from influential observers, and his contribution to Jamaica’s run to the 2015 Gold Cup final earnt him a place in several Best XI selections after the tournament (Fox Sports and Goal.com, for example).

Although the MLS shut its transfer window on August 6th, it has little bearing on the ability of a team in England to sign a player from an American side, and Newcastle may well take up the opportunity to sign the youngster at a cut-price.

Whether Newcastle needs another left-back remains to be seen. The focus of our attention at the moment is on our defence, but not so much the left flank, more so in central defence.

Wales international Paul Dummett and 22-year-old Massadio Haidara currently occupy the left-back roster at the moment, but it may well be that McClaren is looking to build in that area. After all, we have been linked with Tyrone Mings (now of Bournemouth) and former Newcastle favourite, Jose Enrique, this Summer.

However, new regulations instilled by the FA might dash Newcastle’s chances of getting a work permit for this lad; the new rule, first created in March of this year, states that only foreign players who have been regularly selected for international teams in the top 50 of FIFA’s rankings can be granted a work permit. Jamaica is not a top-50 team at the moment, and hasn’t been for some time. At the moment, they stand 55th in the world rankings.

I have personally never heard of the lad before, but it’s always interesting to see us linked with new names. Whether this rumour has any substance in it at all remains to be seen, but I like the fact that we’re being linked with names that aren’t necessarily playing in the European leagues. We recently plunged our hands into the untapped resources of League Two in signing Ivan Toney.

Perhaps we’re taking a broader outlook when it comes to transfers these days.

If you haven’t seen our FULL season preview yet, click on the photo below.