Newcastle United are reportedly ready to pay £25million in order to get in ahead of Tottenham for the transfer of Lille defender Sven Botman.
The highly-rated young Dutchman has looked immense in Ligue 1 for some time, having previously attracted interest from the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Barcelona.
Botman was also strongly linked with Newcastle in January, though the Magpies couldn’t get a deal done at that time.
The player himself has addressed the transfer speculation, and suggested he always planned to stay with Lille until the summer, but he’d be open to a move then.
Newcastle now look ready to step up their efforts to land Botman, even though the 22-year-old is also a top target for Spurs ahead of next season.
NUFC have the money to out-bid Tottenham and other clubs for Botman, so the club’s new owners will just have to hope he’s attracted to their project.
One imagines St James’ Park will soon be the place to be for the world’s best players, but the project is still in its early days, so Botman will surely also be tempted by other big clubs.
Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes were the most exciting signings brought in by Newcastle in January.