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Florian Lejeune moved to Newcastle United from Eibar in 2017, signing a five year contract with the club.

That stay came to an end this summer when he signed for Alaves on a permanent deal. The Frenchman had spent the previous season on loan with the Spanish club, and managed 36 matches across La Liga and the Copa del Rey.

Lejeune is clearly positive about his time at Newcastle United, even if everything didn’t go to plan for him. There were some good times, but a knee injury impacted his ability to impress for the Premier League side.

Speaking to AS about his time with the Magpies, the central defender said: “It was a great contract, for five years. And I stayed three. It is a great club, with a lot of demand. Knee injuries came and everything was cut short.”

Whilst with Newcastle played alongside several Spaniards, and AS inevitably asked him about that: “Yes. Manquillo, Merino, Ayoze Pérez, Gámez and Joselu. Look how far Merino has come! I’m not surprised. I already faced him when I was in Osasuna and I liked him. He started well at Newcastle, but was hurt by a back injury.”

The big frustration for Lejeune is that his career hasn’t been as smooth as he’d have wanted, with more moves than he wished.

Now at 30-years-of-age he wants to settle for a while with Alaves, and, hopefully injury free, play at his top level on a consistent basis.

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