Newcastle United battle Manchester United to sign defender

Newcastle United made a massive impact in the previous January transfer window, shelling out around £90 million in transfer fees. The fact of the matter is that those moves had the desired impact as well, as the club climbed out of the relegation zone and ended up finishing 11th in the Premier League. A remarkable turnaround to say the least when you consider where they were when Eddie Howe arrived as manager.

One of the areas that Howe aimed to improve in in January is there defence. As a result, Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier were signed on a permanent basis while Matt Targett was brought in on loan. Following their arrivals, the Magpies have improved significantly at the back.

Rumours have suggested that Howe might not be done shoring up his defensive options though and the club are expected to sign another centre-back this summer. They have been linked with a number of players capable of playing there, with one of the oldest links involving Sven Botman of Lille.

As reported by TUTTOmercatoWEB, Newcastle United are serious about Botman while Manchester United and others have also joined the transfer race. For the player, AC Milan remains the priority but if the move stalled, he could decide to head elsewhere.

Newcastle United are serious about the Dutch defender

Newcastle United have been linked with the Dutch centre-back for a long time now but he is believed to have an agreement already in place with AC Milan.

The Italian champions could have problems getting the deal over the line though, which could very much open up the transfer race once again and hand Newcastle United the chance to swoop in for Botman.

There would be no lack of competition for his signature though. Botman is an incredible physical presence at the back and he has already shown that he can be a league-winning centre-back, having lifted the Ligue 1 with Lille. Also at just 22 years of age, one would expect the Dutchman to get only better moving forward.