SHARE

A week ago Spanish newspaper Marca reported Newcastle United had returned strongly for Florian Lejeune. Having shown interest earlier in the summer, Newcastle were now prepared to make the signing, perhaps given a nudge forward by Rafael Benitez.

With the player having a release clause at Eibar of €10m (reported in some media outlets as €12m), the mission for Newcastle has been quite simple: Pay Eibar the money and sign the central defender.

Marca’s Tuesday edition reports that Lejeune has now passed his Newcastle United medical and is set to join Benitez’s squad in ‘the coming hours’.

Benitez will be keen to get such a signing onboard, and Lejeune was an important part of the Eibar team last season.

Eibar finished 10th in La Liga, and a strong defence was a big reason behind their successful season. Lejeune was of course part of that and the Spanish media believe Benitez has been pushing the transfer for a while.