Newcastle United have confirmed Sven Botman’s transfer. The club from the north of England is reportedly paying Lille OSC €37 million for the left-footed central defender.
The 22-year-old Botman went through Ajax’s youth academy, but did not play a single match for the first team. After a successful rental period at sc Heerenveen, Lille OSC picked him up in the summer of 2020 for 8 million euros.
At Lille, Botman was a basic player from the start and immediately won the title in his first season. He also won the French supercup last season at the expense of Paris Saint-Germain (1-0). He made a total of 79 appearances for Lille, scoring three goals.
Newcastle United was acquired in October 2021 by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the investment fund of the government of Saudi Arabia. Since then, a sloppy 170 million euros has been spent on new players. Botman is Newcastle’s third reinforcement in this transfer window. Previously, it attracted Matt Target and Nick Pope.
The North Hollander played twelve times for the Young Orange, but did not make his debut for the Dutch national team yet. National coach Louis van Gaal gave preference to, among others, Bruno Martins Indi and Nathan Aké in the past international period, and also referred to the important European Championship qualifiers of the Dutch Juniors.
Sven Botman cheers after one of his three goals for Lille.
Sven Botman cheers after one of his three goals for Lille. Photo: Pro Shots