LASCELLES TALKS ASHLEY INTO £1m BONUS PAYMENTS

NEWCASTLE UNITED’S players will net more than £1million a man if they finish in the premier League top 10 and win silverware. Owner Mike Ashley has dangled a £20m incentive for ending the club’s 63-year wait for a domestic trophy in the FA Cup — they have already been knocked out of the Carabao Cup — while breaking into the top half of the table would add at least another £11m in bonuses. The ongoing dispute between the squad and hierarchy over bonus payments, which had threatened to destabilise morale, has been resolved following a phone conversation between captain Jamaal Lascelles and Ashley. The bonus plan will see the squad share £4m for 17th — one place above the relegation zone — with a further £1m for every position gained, meaning 10th would net each player around £400,000. Lascelles’ role in negotiating with Ashley cannot be underestimated and has justified Rafa Benitez’s decision to stick with him as skipper despite talk of him bringing in a new leader during the summer. Lascelles (below) is — at 23 — the youngest captain in the premier League and will now sit down to discuss a new contract. Benitez, meanwhile, is back at work after missing Sunday’s 1-0 win at Swansea to recover from an operation to clear an infected hernia wound.