Player says signing for Newcastle United was his ‘dream’ – Jumped at chance of move

Rayo Vallecano defender Florian Lejeune has admitted it was his ‘dream’ to play in the Premier League with Newcastle.

The defender joined the Magpies in a €10m deal from SD Eibar in 2017, with then manager Rafa Benitez keen to strengthen his defence.

He would spend four years at St James Park but would only make 46 appearances in total, with injuries stopping him from being a regular.

The French defender was beset by injury issues during his time in the Northeast, suffering an ankle injury, knee injury, groin injury, thigh problems and various other knocks.

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The worst period saw him suffer a cruciate ligament rupture in 2018 which saw him miss 21 games of that season and was followed by a knee injury the following year that saw him miss 18 games and spend 212 days on the treatment table.

He’s since tried to reignite his career in Spain after leaving Newcastle in 2020 but insists there’s no hard feelings and instead looks back at the move fondly.

“It was a dream to play in England and when Benítez called me for Newcastle I didn’t hesitate,” he told AS.

“At the beginning, it was all good, but in pre-season I injured my cruciate muscle. I had the operation in Rome and came back quite quickly.

“Then I played 13 or 14 games in a row, and I broke the one in the other leg. It was a tough blow.”