Newcastle United have confirmed in the last few moments that Florian Lejeune has completed a move to Alaves.
He signs for the La Liga side on a season-long loan and will be reunited with former Mag Joselu in Spain.
A sad story for the talented Frenchman, with him one of our classiest centre-backs before a series of devastating ACL injuries, however we’ll have to hope he can enjoy a strong season in the Spanish top flight and return in 2021 both fully fit and back to his best.
Here’s the club’s official statement confirming his departure, which sees him not only reunited with Joselu but his former coach at Girona:
Newcastle United defender Florian Lejeune has completed a loan move to Spanish La Liga side Deportivo Alavés for the duration of the 2020/21 season.
Lejeune will be reunited with former Magpies teammate Joselu, who arrived at the Mendizorrotza Stadium last summer, as well as manager Pablo Machín, who coached him during his time at Girona during the 2014/15 season.
Lejeune has made 44 appearance for Newcastle United since joining from Eibar in summer 2017, scoring twice – with both goals coming in stoppage time during a dramatic 2-2 draw at Everton in January 2020.
Although it’s sad to see him slip so far down the pecking order, this could be a great move for him, with it seeming likely that he’d spend most of the season on the bench had a loan move not emerged.
Moving forward, we can expect Bruce to scour the loan market for a replacement at centre-back, especially now a deal for Arsenal’s Rob Holding appears to have totally stalled.
Good luck in Spain, Florian!
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