Newcastle United boss Rafael Benitez downplays Jamaal Lascelles exit talk

Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez has downplayed reports that highly-rated defender Jamaal Lascelles could leave the club in the summer.

Chelsea are said to be interested in the 21-year-old centre-back, but the Spaniard has insisted that Lascelles has no desire to leave St James' Park.

"You can't stop speculation about players, but I was talking with him for a while last week and the focus is just trying to improve his game," Sky Sports News quotes Benitez as saying.

"I think at the moment he knows he has to continue progressing and learning, but he is quite happy here."

Lascelles joined Newcastle from Nottingham Forest in 2014.