United Debutant Lejeune

Florian Lejeune during Newcastle’s pre-season friendly with Heart of Midlothian IF Rafa Benitez had seen transfer business progress as he had hoped by this stage of the summer, then Florian Lejeune’s Newcastle United debut would have merely been a footnote at the bottom of the match report from this pre-season friendly.

This 2-1 victory over Hearts should have been the match in which Tammy Abraham ran out for the first time in black and white, and that either Willy Caballero or Pepe Reina made their bow between the sticks, or that Jacob Murphy introduced himself to Magpies supporters by marauding down the wing.

Instead, only Christian Atsu - who, given that he was already on loan at Newcastle last season, was not exactly a “new” signing in the true sense of the term – and Lejeune launched their United careers in earnest in Edinburgh.

The Magpies’ lack of summer business has been a source of serious frustration for Benitez. He wanted three of Abraham, Caballero, Reina and Murphy by now – and, though the latter may yet still arrive, the first three proved unattainable.

Indeed the side Benitez sent out at Tynecastle would, in the Spaniard’s ideal world, be significantly different come August 13 when Newcastle host Tottenham Hotspur in their Premier League curtain-raiser.

But all of that is (hopefully) yet to come. For now, Benitez can only work with what he