Florian Lejeune has revealed that he originally thought that he was the subject of a prank call when he was first contacted by Newcastle.
The 26-year-old secured his switch to St. James’ Park from La Liga outfit Eibar earlier this week and is also glad to be joining the Magpies as they prepare for life back in the Premier League.
Rafa Benitez led Newcastle to Championship glory last season as his side managed to capture the league title on the final day of the season as Brighton slipped up at Aston Villa.
But the way that the Tynesiders got back into the top-flight won’t matter too much to Lejeune, who has also insisted that he doesn’t see the club fighting a relegation battle in the upcoming season.
“Newcastle has always been a Premier League club. What happened (in 15/16) was just a little blip. The club is back where it belongs,” he said, as quoted by the Magpies’ official Twitter account on Thursday afternoon.
“When I got the call, I thought it was a prank. After a while, I thought ‘yes, that was Benitez’ and I had to say yes.”
LEJEUNE: "#NUFC has always been a @premierleague club. What happened (in 15/16) was just a little blip. The club is back where it belongs."
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) July 6, 2017
LEJEUNE: "When I got the call, I thought it was a prank. After a while, I thought 'yes, that WAS Benitez' and I had to say yes." #NUFC
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) July 6, 2017
Lejeune only spent one season with Eibar following his release from Manchester City, but wasted no time in making an impression on Newcastle with his fine performances in La Liga.
He featured against the likes of Barcelona, Ateltico Madrid and even helped his side earn a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid.
The French centre-back is Benitez’s second signing of the summer transfer window after he secured the permanent services of Christian Atsu from Chelsea.