Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez spoke to reporters after his side's disappointing home defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday, and delivered news of a big blow to his side, with Florian Lejeune's injury thought to be a serious one, as quoted by the Daily Star.
The 27-year-old was stretchered off against the Eagles with a suspected ACL injury, and despite not yet having a scan, the early prognosis does not look good.
Lejeune was out for the entire first half of the season with a knee injury, and he did not play for Newcastle this campaign until January 5th.
The Frenchman joined Newcastle from La Liga outfit Eibar in the summer of 2017, for a fee believed to be worth £8.7 million, but he has managed just 36 Premier League starts since then.
And according to Benitez, he won't be adding to that tally anytime soon.
The Spaniard spoke to reporters, and highlighted the severity of Lejeune's injury, as quoted by the Daily Star:
“He is very down. We have to wait and see if he is a little bit lucky but it looks serious.”
Newcastle are far from safe from the threat of relegation, with just seven points separating them from the drop zone, so losing Lejeune at this time of the season will be a massive blow for the Toon.