To borrow a phrase from the Chelsea banners which idolised their former talisman, John Terry, Jamaal Lascelles is a captain, leader and could just be a Newcastle United legend in the making.

Lascelles is not only the youngest captain in the Premier League, leading the youngest team, based on the average age of the starting XI this season, he is also a defender learning how to play at the highest level.

When Lascelles was handed the armband last summer, he was just 22. He was neither a senior player or a proven one, yet still manager Rafa Benitez chose him. The Spaniard needed to build a new team, with a better attitude and stronger self-motivation after relegation. Lascelles was his cement, helping to bind the players together as they returned to the top flight after just one season.

Given how well he has played in recent weeks, defending superbly, but also scoring the winning goal against both Stoke and Swansea, it is hard to fathom this is Lascelles’ first season as a regular starter in the Premier League. But there is something different about this young man from Nottingham.

There is a steely determination in the way he plays and talks. It is combined with the sort of quiet menace that accompanies all the best centre-backs when they walk into a room.