Newcastle United defender Jamal Lewis faces an ‘uncertain’ future

Lewis has played just seven minutes of Premier League football for the Magpies this season and has made two appearances in cup competitions.

The left-back, who has two years left on his contract at St James’ Park in 2020 for €15m, is expected to change this summer.

Howe said: “The future is a little unclear for him.

“He is a very valued member of our team at the moment.

“I’m very aware that I haven’t been able to provide him with the football he wanted this season, but I would say his game has evolved behind the scenes.

“The work he does behind the scenes every day to improve with the coaches here has been great to see. His game was really good but I couldn’t give him the opportunity to show that. He is someone we value and believe in.

“As I sit here now, I don’t know what the future holds for him next year.”

Had things gone differently, Lewis could have played a huge part in Howe’s Newcastle rebuild. The defender was a regular starter in the first few weeks of Howe’s tenure, being called up to the starting XI in four of his first six games. However, he suffered a hamstring injury and was left out of the 25-man squad in the second half of last season.

Opportunities have been hard to come by this season.

Howe said: “It’s amazing how fate shows its hand. I think he played at Liverpool and played a few games before. He was in good form and gave us our first win against Burnley.

“But then he pulled his Achilles tendon and that meant we were really weak in that position, so we recruited Matt [Targett] And now Dan has gotten stronger this year.

“There is real competition for places in this area, which was great for me personally, but obviously more difficult for Jamal to handle. But I have to say he acted impeccably.”