Forget Ekitike: Howe dropped D-Day Newcastle clanger on "underrated" £50k-p/w flyer - opinion

A major update has emerged on Newcastle United and their plans for left-back Jamal Lewis…

Daily Mail reporter Craig Hope claimed on deadline day that the Northern Ireland international has been omitted from the club’s list of players heading into the second-half of the campaign.

He Tweeted: “Also understand Ciaran Clark & Jamal Lewis have turned down moves away from NUFC despite not being in the 25-man squad to be submitted to Premier League.”

Whilst fans may want to focus on transfers the club missed out on, such as the deal for Hugo Ekitike collapsing, this decision on Lewis’ future represents a huge clanger from Eddie Howe.

Forget missing out on the French striker for now, the call to brutally axe the former Norwich defender from the squad appears to be a baffling one on paper.

Howe has seemingly decided to pick Matt Ritchie, 32, among others, ahead of him in the 25-man list. The 24-year-old is still a prospect and could have benefitted from battling with Matt Targett for the left-back spot over the next few months.

Meanwhile, Ritchie is well into his 30’s and has been poor this season. He has averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.43 across 16 Premier League appearances, showing that he has been far from good enough over an extended period of time.

Lewis, on the other hand, showed signs of promise prior to picking up an injury in December. In the 1-0 win over Burnley, he was given a WhoScored rating of 7.00 as he made four tackles, four clearances, one interception and one block.

Ex-England striker Darren Bent previously lauded the defender’s talents, saying: “Jamal Lewis, when you think about it, defensively I think he’s a little bit better than Max Aarons. I think going forward and defensively he’s very good, and