NEWCASTLE: Skipper Jamaal Lascelles has admitted keeping Newcastle 鈥渦nited鈥� is a much easier job now than it was under Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce.

Since the PIF majority buyout, Newcastle, as a city and as a football club, has been transformed, according to Lascelles 鈥� and the club captain said that had made his job much simpler when it comes to dressing room unity.

Lascelles has worn the United armband since 2016 and, while he does not find himself an automatic pick in the Newcastle line-up these days, he鈥檚 a valued member of the first-team group under head coach Eddie Howe.

The central defender has seen relegation and promotion, highs and lows, managerial and regime change at St James鈥� Park in his time as captain, but never has he seen so many leaders wearing black and white.

鈥淭here is a big mentality shift in terms of what we want. We go into every game now wanting the three points, even when we go down to Chelsea, we aren鈥檛 going there to sit back and hope to get a draw. We go there to win the game.

鈥淭hat comes from the manager and it comes from the players the manager has signed.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 been the quickest thing I鈥檝e had to adapt to and it鈥檚 the most obvious thing all the players who have been here for a while have had to adjust to as well.

鈥淲e are not here just to survive anymore. We have a winner鈥檚 mentality, the club is ambitious and we are part of that. You can see that in the way we play.鈥�

The January signings of the likes of Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn, in particular, have really added to the leadership group in the camp.

This summer is likely to see more of the 鈥渞ight characters鈥� added when the transfer window opens up, a far cry from the stellar names, often overpriced and slightly past it, linked by many speculative reports across Europe.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been times here, years here, where I鈥檝e found it difficult, trying to keep the dressing room together, keep relationships, keep things positive.

鈥淏ut now, when you鈥檝e got five, six or seven players all doing that, it just makes my job so much easier,鈥� Lascelles said about adding strong voices into the group. 鈥淎 lot of the stuff I do isn鈥檛 necessarily on the pitch at St James鈥�. It鈥檚 on the training ground.

鈥淵ou look at the bigger teams back in the day, you look at Man U, they鈥檇 have a group of players, lieutenants I guess. I think we鈥檝e got that at the minute, like a leadership group. I think that鈥檚 a really good thing for the team.鈥�

With safety almost secured 鈥� one further win from the final nine games is likely to seal it 鈥� the attention of the fanbase is very definitely turning to the summer and transfers.

Howe is not looking any further than Spurs on Sunday, but it is Arab News鈥� understanding that transfer strategy meetings have taken place on Tyneside this week, with the head coach again set to have a key role in identifying targets and convincing them that NUFC is the project for them.

Does all the speculation make things more difficult for Lascelles and the current crop?

鈥淣ot really because everyone who is involved in Newcastle at the moment is in a good situation,鈥� he said.

鈥淲hen you see all the superstars being linked to Newcastle, the thing is, we don鈥檛 know how true that all is. We also know that you cannot completely change a football team overnight, it鈥檚 going to be gradual.

鈥淓ven if that is what this club eventually turns into, it鈥檚 what is happening now that matters to us and all I know is the players who are here, we want to be involved with this football club for as long as we possibly can. It鈥檚 a great thing at the minute.

鈥淚t will be fascinating to see how that all develops in the next year and beyond that.鈥�