Florian Lejeune has announced that he is nearly back from injury after five months out with a serious knee injury.
The Frenchman though has recovered remarkably quickly and is ready to make an impact on the Newcastle first team.
Lejeune is a classy defender who has proved in his time with Newcastle that he belongs in the top-flight.
Both he and Fabian Schar are also excellent with the ball at their feet and both have a superb range of passing that could allow Newcastle to launch attacks from deep.
Steve Bruce cannot leave a player as good as Lejeune out of his side and the unfortunate man to be dropped could be Paul Dummett.
The Geordie defender who has turned himself into a fan-favourite in recent years could be the man to make way for Lejeune.
This is because Dummett is brilliant defensively but offers almost nothing going forward – so he could not be played as a wing-back in Bruce’s 5-2-3 formation.
The other candidate to be dropped for Lejeune is the captain Jamaal Lascelles, and I just can’t see Bruce make such a bold move to accommodate the Frenchman – so it seems that it will be Dummett who has to miss out.
This would be harsh on Dummett who has developed into a solid Premier League defender in recent years but the combination of Lejeune and Schar starting attacks and carrying the ball is too good for Newcastle to miss out on.
The fact that a player as good defensively as Dummett could find himself benched is a sign of how good some of Newcastle’s centre-backs are.
I cannot wait to see Lejeune back in a black & white shirt.