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Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez is set to step up his chase for a centre-back after being rocked by the injury to Florian Lejeune.

The defender injured his cruciate ligament in training and will now undergo surgery.

It is understood that the Spaniard will now go into the transfer market for a replacement, and having his transfer kitty boosted by Aleksandar Mitrovic's impending £22million move to Fulham, interest in Federico Fernandez is now back on the table.

The Argentine has been the subject of loan interest from the Magpies having worked with Benitez during their time at Napoli together. National reports state Swansea would want £10million for Fernandez if he were to leave permanantly.

On Lejeune, the former Liverpool boss said : "It is a cruciate ligament and he will need an operation.

"We need to decide exactly when but we will lose him for a while. It’s bad news for us."

Russian side Krasnador remain an option for Fernandez, who revealed earlier this month that he wants to play at the highest level possible following Swansea's relegation.

Meanwhile Fulham, late arrivals to the Alfie Mawson party, remain in pole position to sign the 24-year-old.

A host of Premier League clubs, including West Ham, Everton, Burnley and Southampton, have made their interest known in the former Brentford man, with the Hammers having a bid turned down by the Swansea board.

It looked as if the Clarets had stolen a march on their top-flight rivals but the Cottagers are now the frontrunners, with Mawson believed to favour a return to London and Fulham understood to be prepared to meet Swansea's asking price.

The bookmakers have installed Slaviša Jokanović's team as favourites to capture Mawson this summer.

Swansea have centre-back problems of their own, with Kyle Bartley now departed and Mike van der Hoorn limping out of Graham Potter's final pre-season match against Freiburg on Friday.

The Dutchman left the field late on with an apparent groin complaint.

It leaves Potter with a headache with the Championship curtain-raiser against Sheffield United just six days away.

Elsewhere, Swansea have been linked with Nottingham Forest winger Barrie McKay.

The 23-year-old former Rangers man would be available for around £500,000. He made 28 appearances last term in all competitions for the Reds, scoring five times.

And talks continue between Swansea and Manchester City over Bersant Celina, with the 21-year-old still firmly on the club's radar.