Northern Ireland defender Jamal Lewis appears to be off to pastures new – in South America.
The 26-year-old left back has flown to Brazil to finalise a switch from Premier League side Newcastle United to Brazilian giants Sao Paulo.
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill, whose squad are training in Belfast today ahead of the upcoming Nations League double header against Luxembourg and Bulgaria, revealed yesterday that the move is imminent.
“Jamal is planning to join us later in the week after he completes his visa requirements and medical checks in Brazil. We wish him the best of luck in his move to São Paulo,” he said.
Lewis, who has won 36 caps for Northern Ireland, joined Newcastle in 2020 from Norwich City for a fee of £15m. Since then he has made 36 appearances for the Magpies. He spent last season on loan at EFL Championship side Watford.
Sao Paulo, who compete in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, have never been relegated from Brazil’s top flight and they have won numerous championship titles in the South American country.
Meanwhile, Shea Charles’ debut for Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend ended in defeat as the Owls suffered a third straight Championship loss after going down 3-0 at The Den to Millwall.
In what was another disappointing afternoon for the Yorkshire outfit the 20-year-old, who arrived at Hillsborough last week on a season-long loan from Southampton, was arguably Wednesday’s best player after being drafted straight into the starting 11 by manager Danny Rohl.
Also making their debuts over the weekend were loanee striker Dale Taylor, who played the last half-hour of Wigan Athletic’s 2-1 reverse at Birmingham City, and winger Jordan Jones, who played his first game for League Two Carlisle United following his recent departure from Wigan.
Northern Ireland under-21 defender Tommy Fogarty, on loan from Birmingham City, made his first appearance for Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic in their 1-1 draw at home to Ayr United.
Under-19 international Gallagher Lennon started for Annan Athletic following his loan move from St Mirren and veteran winger Niall McGinn came on as a substitute for Morton after his surprise arrival on loan from Glentoran.
In the Premier League, Conor Bradley was used as a substitute for the third game in a row as Liverpool put three goals past Manchester United at Old Trafford without reply and 20-year-old Justin Devenny was an unused substitute after he was named in Crystal Palace’s match day squad for the first time as the Eagles drew 1-1 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Sunderland defender Daniel Ballard made his first start of the season after recovering from a knee injury as the Black Cats, who also had Trai Hume at right-back, won 3-1 against Portsmouth at Fratton Park.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Ciaron Brown provided an assist for Oxford United’s third goal in their 3-1 victory at home to Preston North End for whom midfielder Ali McCann made his first league appearance of the season after coming on as a late substitute.
Strikers Callum Marshall, Shayne Lavery, Dion Charles and Josh Magennis, all named in Michael O’Neill’s squad for the upcoming Nations League games against Luxembourg and Bulgaria, all started for their respective clubs in League One.
In the Scottish Premiership Caolan Boyd-Munce, who has just returned from injury, popped up with an assist for St Mirren in their 2-2 draw at Dundee and Ross McCausland played 52 minutes as a substitute in Rangers' 3-0 loss to Celtic at Parkhead.
Finally, in the SWPL, Joely Andrews made it two goals in two games as she found the net for Hearts in their 6-1 success away at Motherwell.
