Newcastle squad bonus row resolved after captain Jamaal Lascelles' phone call with owner Mike Ashley
- Newcastle's players will get over £1m each in bonuses if all targets are met
- Club captain agreed the deal with Newcastle owner Mike Ashley
- To earn the extras, Newcastle need a top-10 finish and to win the FA Cup
- Newcastle have six points from their first four Premier League matches
Newcastle United's players will net over £1million a man if they finish in the top 10 of the Premier League and win the FA Cup.
Owner Mike Ashley has dangled a £20m incentive for ending the club's 63-year wait for a domestic trophy, while breaking into the top half of the table would add at least another £11m to the bonus pot.
And that would see each player walk away with a seven-figure sum come the end of the season.
Newcastle players could earn £1m each in bonuses if objectives are met this season
Captain Jamaal Lascelles (centre) spoke to Newcastle owner Mike Ashley about the bonuses
The ongoing dispute between the squad and the hierarchy over bonus payments - which had threatened to destabilise morale - has been resolved following a phone conversation between captain Jamaal Lascelles and Ashley.
Lascelles scored the only goal during Sunday's win at Swansea, moving Rafa Benitez's side up to 10th.
And the bonus plan will see the squad share £4m for survival (17th) with a further £1m for every position gained, meaning a 10th-placed return alone would net each player around £400,000.
The agreement could prove a big leap from the £5m they shared for winning last season's Championship title, should they go on and have a successful campaign.
In previous seasons any bonus payment has been dependent on a top-half finish, which they last achieved in 2014.
Lascelles' role in negotiating with Ashley cannot be under-estimated and has justified Benitez's decision to stick with him as skipper - there had been talk of him bringing in a new leader during the summer.
Lascelles will now sit down to discuss the terms of a new contract at Newcastle
If Newcastle won the FA Cup, Ashley would add an overall £11m total to the bonus pot
Indeed, it would appear that the 23-year-old has had more contact with the owner than his manager in recent weeks.
Lascelles is the youngest captain in the Premier League and he will now sit down to discuss the terms of a new contract.
Benitez, meanwhile, is back at work after missing the win at Swansea as he continued to recover from an infected hernia wound.
His big decision in the coming days will be whether or not to recall Jonjo Shelvey to the side for Saturday's visit of Stoke.
Benitez - who was managing via mobile phone on Sunday - chose to leave the midfielder on the bench after his return from a three-game suspension for stamping on Spurs' Dele Alli.
And the boss included him in Peter Beardsley's Under 23 team earlier this week in a bid to prove his fitness and focus after a month on the sidelines.
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