Rafael Benitez putting his foot down on Newcastle transfer, doesn’t want player to go

Newcastle United manager Rafa Benítez will not let defender Florian Lejeune leave the club easily this summer, according to reports from Spain today.

As written by outlet El Desmarque, Sevilla would be interested in signing the player in this transfer window, having the Frenchman as one of the options the board like for the defensive sector.

But Benitez sees Lejeune as a ‘key player’ in his system, since he has ‘perfectly understood his game-plan’, and ‘can grow a lot’ in the Premier League.

That’s why the manager will work to keep the defender in the squad for next season, feeling he’s now settled in and can kick on.

Embed from Getty Images

Sevilla’s hope is that Benitez could leave Newcastle soon. El Desmarque claims that the manager is currently negotiating a new contract with the Magpies, as his current one expires next year. In case he’s off, then it would be easier to sign the defender.

That very much sounds like hope rather than expectation.

It’s interesting that despite reporting Benitez’s wish to keep Lejeune, El Desmarque still says the player has a price. The manager would demand €15m to let the player go, a little bit more than the €10m spent by the Magpies to sign the defender in 2017.

That, again, sounds more like hope than expectation.