Newcastle are flying this season under Rafa Benitez and they sit top of the Sky Bet Championship, with an ever-growing gap back to third place.

Benitez has got The Magpies playing some great football this season, which has seen them blow teams away, scoring countless goals in the process, including a 6-0 away win at QPR.

Newcastle recruited wisely in the summer, adding some Championship experience, to what was a relatively inexperienced side at this level.

However, with Newcastle’s great success, their players are likely to be attracting lots of potential suitors from the Premier League and abroad.

Several of their key players have already been linked with moves away.

Jamaal Lascelles has recently been linked with a move to Chelsea, while Aleksandar Mitrovic has been touted for a move to Napoli, both of which would be key losses for The Magpies.

Here, FLW's Chris Wilson will look at two players who should leave Newcastle to fulfil their potential…

 

Jonjo Shelvey

Shelvey joined Newcastle last season to help them try and stave off relegation.

He couldn’t help in that, but he did have a successful time last season and he has carried his form into this season.

Shelvey is a class above compared to some of his opponents this season and it came as a surprise to most when he didn’t leave in summer to return to the Premier League.

Shelvey has great footballing abilities and his eye for a pass and then execution of it, is exceptional.

However, to further improve, Shelvey will have to leave Newcastle, sometimes the players at Newcastle aren’t quite on the same wavelength as him and it reflects badly on him.

If he went to a Premier League team he could pick out the runs that others make with his inch perfect passes.

Jamaal Lascelles

Lascelles has established himself as a regular at St James' Park and has earned himself the captaincy ahead of the season.

This is a big show of faith from Benitez which shows how good he thinks Lascelles is.

Lascelles has been playing very well for The Magpies this season and he even has a couple of goals to his name.

Lascelles is the modern day centre back, he can play football as well as being a fantastic defender, which has earned him recognition from Premier League giants, Chelsea.

To fulfil his full potential, Lascelles should seek a move to the Premier League where he can test himself more against better players.

He still has age on his side, so with more experience playing at the highest level, he could become one of the country’s top centre backs.