Signing Confirmed: FLORIAN LEJEUNE
Florian Lejeune today joined Newcastle United from SD Eibar as Rafa Benitez secured his second signing of the summer.
The 6’2” centre half joins the Magpies after an impressive season in the Spanish league for a fee believed to be in the region of £9m.
Born in Paris the 26 year old has not yet been capped for his full national team although did represent France back in 2009/10 making 7 appearances at U20 level.
Florian is not a stranger to English football however having previously been on the books of Manchester City only a couple of seasons ago. Despite never wearing a City shirt in anger, whatever the City scouts saw in him initially seems to have also been something that attracted Newcastle to the player who led LaLiga in interceptions made last season.
Rafa, on nufc.co.uk, said of his new man “He is a player that has done very well this year in Spain. I have known about him for a while, since he began playing for Villarreal.”
"He has progressed a lot as a player in the last few years and I know he will give us something different at the back - he is good with both feet, he's big and he's good in the air also.
"If he settles well into English football then I am sure he will be a success and will give us a lot of competition in this area.”
He certainly adds to the depth of players we have in central defence and you’d have to thing that at least one of Lascelles, Clark, Mbemba or Hanley would make way for the new man. And with Clark impressing last season and Lascelles also making regular starts you’d have to think it would be one of the latter of that quartet.
Lejeune joins as Newcastle’s second permanent signing of the window after the club activated a buy out clause in the loan deal of Christian Atsu. Magpies fans will be hoping that this is the start of a flurry of transfer activity at the club now with the need to strengthen before pre-season which starts in just a couple of weeks.