Newcastle United have a fight on their hands to land Sven Botman.
The Lille centre-back has been heavily linked with a £30 million move to St James’s Park.
The French outfit have rejected an approach by Newcastle.
However, The Telegraph claims the situation is ‘complicated’.
Newcastle’s hopes aren’t entirely dead in the water because The Telegraph report that Botman himself is ‘fascinated’ by Saudi Public Investment Fund’s project on Tyneside.
The Magpies’ owners have a reported fortune of £320 billion, making the North-East very appealing in the near future.
And it seems like Botman himself is willing to be part of it.
That’s the good news.
The bad news, going by The Telegraph, is that Newcastle’s wealth might not mean much.
In the same report, journalist Luke Edwards writes that the Ligue 1 side are under no pressure to sell the 21-year-old Dutchman.
And frankly, the relegation-threatened side cannot and must not spend the whole of January trying to get someone unless they’re positive they can succeed.
Time is of the essence for Newcastle.
Eddie Howe’s side are 19th in the Premier League table and if there isn’t genuine optimism that Botman can be bought, they need to move on to other targets.
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