Newcastle United signed Sven Botman after Tottenham Hotspur made the decision not to make a move for the Dutch international this summer.
Left-footed centre backs are very popular in the modern game.
There has been a greater emphasis placed on having left-footed centre backs due to the impact they can have in build-up play.
Many Premier League clubs are now chasing left-footed centre backs this summer and one has already made a big move with Nayef Aguerd joining West Ham.
Newcastle United signed Sven Botman
Another deal went through last week as Newcastle finally pulled off a deal to sign Lille defender Botman after months of chasing him.
Newcastle wanted Botman in January but couldn’t quite get it done. Finally, the Dutchman is on board at St James’ Park.
This is a major addition for Newcastle and now means he will form an all-left-footed centre back pairing with Dan Burn.
That’s an interesting approach from Newcastle, and their deal for Botman comes after Tottenham seemingly backed away.
The Athletic report that Tottenham did have Botman on their initial list of left-footed centre back targets.
However, Tottenham decided that Botman wasn’t a great fit for their back three given his lack of experience in that setup.
Tottenham backed away from Botman and decided not to challenge Newcastle for his signature.
That ultimately cleared the way for Newcastle to land Botman, especially after AC Milan decided they couldn’t compete with Newcastle financially.
Tottenham will instead be signing Barcelona defender Lenglet on loan with an option to buy – a much cheaper deal and the one Newcastle struck for Botman.
The hope is that Lenglet can challenge Ben Davies on the left side of Conte’s back three and that he will suit the role better than Botman.
Botman will have chances to shine against Tottenham for years to come now, and he will be desperate to show that they made a mistake not pushing for his signature.
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