Newcastle are on the verge of announcing their second summer signing, with the Northern Echo confirming today that the signing of Eibar centre-back Florian Lejeune is imminent.
After activating the Frenchman’s £8.7m release clause, the local report states Lejeune is all set to travel to England for his medical on Tyneside, with the club expected to confirm his signing within the next couple of days.
Newcastle had been in talks with Ruben Semedo earlier this month, however it is believed that Lejeune was Rafa Benitez’s priority target after being impressed by his performances in La Liga last season.
Eibar expecting to confirm exit of Florian Lejeune to #nufc this week. Has been a long drawn out deal this one.
— Lee Ryder (@lee_ryder) June 19, 2017
Talks for Lejeune are believed to have been ongoing for a couple of weeks, with Lee Charnley initially looking to pay the £8.7m release clause in installments.
Having seen Eibar repeatedly rejected Newcastle’s attempts to engineer such an agreement, however, the Northern Echo reveal that a breakthrough was achieved over the weekend when Charnley agreed to meet Lejeune’s buyout clause in full to stave off late interest from Tottenham and Roma.
The 26-year-old centre-back is expected to double his salary on Tyneside and, despite being a somewhat unknown quantity to many NUFC fans, he will be a welcome addition for Rafa Benitez, who is keen to bolster our defensive options this summer.
CLICK HERE for an in-depth look into Florian Lejeune.
