Newcastle United have secured a return to the Premier League after spending one season in the Championship. The Magpies are aware of the fact that they will have to face a number of big name clubs in the top flight football, including the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and defending champions Chelsea and are looking to rebuild their side accordingly to take the aforementioned sides head on in the next season.
With changes due in all departments for the Magpies, they are still awaiting their first summer signing for the year, which can be realised in the form of French defender Florian Lejeune. The 26-year-old has been playing currently for the Spanish La Liga side Eibar and has performed pretty well for them throughout the season.
The Frenchman is tied to a contract with the Spanish club that runs till 2020, but speculations are rife that Newcastle is on the verge of making him their second signing after returning to top flight football. The Magpies have reportedly made a bid for the centre-back, who is rated at £8.7 million by Eibar for his potential suitors.
The French defender is not completely new to the ways of the Premier League and has been formerly associated with one of the giants of English football Manchester City, who signed him up in 2015. However, he was loaned out straight away to Girona, a club in the second tier of the Spanish La Liga. After spending a year there, he joined his current club Eibar on a permanent deal of £1.2 million in the very next year and has since been one of their most important players.
Lejeune has made 34 appearances for his club and helped his club finish in the 10th position in the Spanish La Liga. The Magpies are quite hopeful of getting the French centre-back as their second signing this summer.
Newcastle United have been looking to rebuild their side big time, with their current manager Rafa Benitez eyeing a plethora of young and experienced players to be brought into the side for the new season. The Spaniard has been the manager of the Merseyside club Liverpool for quite a long time before moving to Italy to become the coach of Napoli and is well aware of the challenges that a club has to face in the Premier League, especially if it is new in one of the most competitive leagues in the world.
