Newcastle want Sven Botman and now appear to be closing in on signing the Lille defender as a move to AC Milan fades away.
The Magpies secured their first signing of the summer on Wednesday by signing Aston Villa left back Matt Targett permanently.
Targett impressed on loan and will now be Newcastle’s first-choice left back moving forward.
Newcastle still want more though and new sporting director Dan Ashworth could be closing in on a huge coup in Botman.
Newcastle want Sven Botman
Newcastle were very keen on Lille defender Botman during the January transfer window.
The deal just couldn’t be done but Amanda Staveley told The Athletic that Botman ‘desperately’ wanted to join the Magpies.
It’s therefore no great surprise that Newcastle are back in the hunt for Botman this summer.
There has been a long-standing belief that AC Milan would be signing Botman as they have been chasing him for months.
Yet The Telegraph now claim that Newcastle are close to a breakthrough with Botman. There is a growing belief that he will now pick the North East over Milan.
Newcastle will allegedly be paying around £30million to bring Botman to St James’ Park with the idea of partnering him with Dan Burn.
That would mean two left-footed centre backs playing together, which is something you don’t see all that often.
Nobody minds when it’s two right-footers together though, so maybe Burn and Botman can become a stellar partnership for Newcastle.
Botman, 22, came through the Ajax ranks before joining Lille back in the summer of 2020.
Botman quickly became a star in France and will likely become Lille’s next big sale.
A huge aerial threat at 6ft 5in tall, Botman could now combine to look like mountains with Burn.
Newcastle have been chasing this deal for a long time now and for it to now look close is a real feather in the cap for Ashworth.
There is still work to be done but it now looks increasingly like Newcastle will finally get their man.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
