Tottenham’s hopes of landing Florian Lejeune have been dealt a blow as reports have emerged claiming that Newcastle United have raced ahead for the signature of the former Manchester City man. According to sources in Spain (h/t Chronicle Live), Newcastle United have made a formal offer for Florian Lejeune and are prepared to pay his transfer fee in full to beat Premier League opposition to his signature .
The report claims that the French centre-back has a release clause of £8.7million and is keen on a move to England. Along with us, Arsenal have also expressed an interest in the defender but Newcastle are hoping to complete the deal next month by offering the full amount up front rather than instalments.
The 25-year-old Frenchman made 37 appearances in all competitions and scored a goal as well. He also has one assist to his name. While the goal came in the 3-1 win over Deportivo La Coruna, the assist helped Eibar claim a 2-1 win over Villarreal. He played a total of around 3100 minutes last season and was important for Eibar.
He was bought by Manchester City two years ago after doing well with Spanish club Girona. But he was immediately loaned out before being sold to Eibar for just £1.3m last summer.
We do need some depth in the central defence area and Lejeune would be a perfect squad player to have behind Alderweireld and Vertonghen. Eric Dier is another option and signing Lejeune would provide us with some much-needed squad depth.
With the team set to compete on 4 fronts next campaign, it is important to have a deep squad, filled with quality. The team is on the right track for the future and this is the summer where Pochettino needs to add those missing pieces to the squad and settle things once and for all.
The stadium move is set to happen next summer and we will be forced into financial restriction after that. So it would be wise for Tottenham to spend on adding some quality to the squad.
Lejeune would be a great back-up player, also being capable of shutting down oppositions on his own. I’d expect Pochettino to sign the Frenchman and we should act quickly and beat Newcastle United to his signature.
