Lille’s Sven Botman has suggested that he would be tempted to join Newcastle United next summer after the Premier League outfit showed ‘concrete’ interest in January, speaking to Rondo.
Well, you can’t say they didn’t try.
The Ligue 1 champion was Newcastle’s number one centre-back target heading into the January transfer window. And, right until the very last minute, they refused to take ‘no’ for an answer.
According to Calciomercato, Newcastle failed with a final offer on deadline day worth around £33 million.
Comparisons can be drawn between Newcastle’s failed pursuit of Botman and Leeds United’s attempts to bring USA international Brenden Aaronson to Elland Road.
Like Red Bull Salzburg, who were reluctant to let Aaronson go ahead of a Champions League knockout tie with Bayern Munich, Lille’s own European dreams appeared to put pay to any hopes Botman might have had of a winter exit.
Les Dogues will go head-to-head with Chelsea in three weeks’ time. And yes, their chances of reaching the quarter-finals are slim. But, without Botman, they’d be arguably non-existant.
Will Sven Botman still end up at Newcastle United?
“We are playing in the Champions League. I have a nice role in the team,” says the former Ajax youngster.
“But sometimes opportunities come along that you have to take. I have the feeling that I am ready for a new step. Hopefully in the summer.
“Yes, they were very concrete,” Botman adds when quizzed on interest from Newcastle and Italian giants AC Milan. “My preference? Both clubs have positive points.
“Everyone says about Newcastle; ‘It’s about the money!’. But it’s a very nice project, if you look at where Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain started.
“I think it would be very nice to be part of that.”
You don’t need a PHD in behavioural science to realise that, if Newcastle survive the drop and renew their interest in Botman come the summer, one of Europe’s most talented young defenders would find an offer difficult to ignore.
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