New Newcastle United signing Florian Lejeune has spoken of his vision for the upcoming season.
The 26-year-old eventually finalised a deal with the Magpies on Tuesday morning after a short transfer saga.
Lejeune had been reported to be close to joining Rafael Benitez’ team on several occasions over the past month, which caused frustration for Benitez and supporters.
Negotiations around a fee for Lejeune continued to delay a possible deal. And as Eibar held firm, Managing Director Lee Charnley decided to activate Lejeune’s £8.7million release clause.
Lejeune signed a five-year-old contract at St James’ Park and teamed up with his new teammates for their second day of pre-season.
And the French defender spoke exclusively to NUFCTV to express his views on his “dream” move to the Premier League.
A dream that never happened with Manchester City
Lejeune joined Manchester City in 2015 from Girona but never made a first-team appearance for the Citizens.
The defender was immediately loaned back to Girona for a year before joining Eibar in a permanent in 2016. And Lejeune admitted “it was a strange relationship” with Man City “but that is in the past now.”
What does Lejeune expect and what can fans expect from him
On his move to Tyneside, the former Villarreal B man believes he is “lucky enough to be given this opportunity [to play for Newcastle]”
“I am here at Newcastle and I am hoping to have a great season and work really hard,” he added.
Following their promotion back to the top-flight at the first attempt, the Magpies will once against compete against the so-called big guns, which is something that clearly attracted the 26-year-old to St James’.
He said “It is a dream there are so many huge clubs like Manchester United, Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool. At Newcastle every weekend is a big match involving the best players and it has always been my dream to play in this league.”
And on his attributes as a player, Lejeune said: “I’m pretty good with my head, can play good long balls and also play simple when needed.
“I’m technically good but the fans will be able to judge me for themselves.”
Here’s a short video from YouTube highlighting Lejeune abilities. But as Newcastle fans know, never judge a player via YouTube…