Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has kept in regular communication with defender and captain Jamaal Lascelles after being forced to resolve a bonus dispute in the build up to the new season, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claim that after the British businessman saw a disagreement over the bonus pay for the squad for a second successive year, he has kept a line of communication between the pair open.
Ashley, who has been present at the last two Newcastle games after a long absence, is said to have been left worried about what he saw against Leicester City, and held face to face talks with manager Rafael Benitez and the squad on Wednesday evening.
Opinion
It is interesting to hear that Ashley and Lascelles have been in contact with one another, for the owner has usually been the sort to stay far away from the day-to-day dealings of the club, instead leaving those responsibilities to managing director Lee Charnley. Of course, much, if not all, of the communication between the owner and defender will go through Ashley’s right hand man, but the fact that Benitez himself has not had too much to do with the Sports Direct tycoon whereas his player has is something to be questioned. Is this a case of Ashley having to take an interest in the squad and their performances, or does he simply want to be a fly on the wall and find out what is going on behind the scenes? Only Ashley knows the truth of why he and Lascelles are in touch with each other, but it still makes a refreshing change from the owner who seemed to forget about the football club for so long.