Sao Paulo FC official announcement after signing Newcastle United player | OneFootball

Sao Paulo FC have signed Newcastle United defender Jamal Lewis.

Their official announcement (see below) saying ‘He arrives on loan from Newcastle in England, with a contract valid until June 30, 2025, with an option to buy.’

No word from Newcastle United as yet, however, this does appear to suggest that Jamal Lewis has at the same time signed a (probably one year) contract extension with NUFC, to keep alive hopes of eventually banking some kind of a transfer fee for the defender who Steve Bruce paid £15m for, back in 2020. His five year Newcastle United deal was due to end on 30 June 2025.

The transfer window in Brazil had stayed open until Monday (2 September 2024), with Jamal Lewis signing for Sao Paulo FC on their deadline day.

The league season in Brazil runs from April to December and so this was the mid-season transfer window.

Sao Paolo FC have now played 25 league matches and dropped from 5th to 6th in the table after a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Fluminese, who are down in 16th.

Sao Paulo FC official announcement – 2 September 2024:

‘São Paulo has signed left-back Jamal Lewis, 26. He arrives on loan from Newcastle in England, with a contract valid until June 30, 2025, with an option to buy.

Jamal Piaras Lewis was born in Luton, England, but plays for Northern Ireland, his mother’s home country. He will be the first British player to represent the Tricolor.

“When I heard about this opportunity, I immediately told my agent that I wanted to come to Brazil. It’s an honor to play for a giant like São Paulo and to be the first British player in the club’s history. I’m really excited to play for a club that has won three World Cups. It’s an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I’m looking forward to meeting the fans and contributing to the team,” said Lewis.

The new São Paulo player has been called up to defend Northern Ireland on this FIFA date. He will join the squad led by Luis Zubeldía only after the games against Luxembourg (5/9) and Bulgaria (8/9) in the Nations League – his team plays in League C.

“Jamal Lewis is a player with experience in one of the great centers of world football. A representative of the Northern Ireland national team, and with experience in important clubs in England, he can contribute a lot to the development of our squad, especially at such an important moment as the one we are experiencing,” said President Julio Casares.

“We used the creativity and assessments of our analysis team to come up with the name of Jamal Lewis, a full-back with the characteristics we were looking for. He is a young player with experience in English football, which certainly gives him important experience. He is another player who will strengthen our group in the three competitions we are competing in,” added football director Carlos Belmonte.

CAREER

Jamal Lewis started playing football in Luton, an English city located about 50 kilometers from London. His first professional club was Norwich City.

The full-back joined the club in 2014 to play in the lower categories, and made his debut in the first team during the 2017/2018 season. The following season, he was one of the highlights of the EFL Championship, the English second division, and was even part of the team of the tournament. He made his Premier League debut in the 2019/2020 season.

Lewis’s good performances caught the attention of Newcastle, the club he played for for three seasons (2020/2021, 2021/2022 and 2022/2023). Loaned to Watford last European season, Lewis played in 38 matches, 36 in the EFL Championship and two in the FA Cup.