Newcastle United journalist John Gibson has given his thoughts on the club’s plans in the summer transfer window and potentially chasing after Sven Botman and Diego Carlos.
Having got off to a terrible start this season by not winning a single game until the start of December and spending time at the bottom of the table, Newcastle have given themselves a great chance of staying up in recent weeks as they now find themselves four points clear of the relegation zone.
And if they were to stay up, you would imagine they will likely be spending the summer in the same way they spent the January transfer window – spending big in order to transform the squad from a side near the bottom of the table to near the top.
Speaking on the latest edition of NUFC Matters, Gibson claimed that he expected the club to spend the summer trying to bring in a couple of the players that they were chasing after in the January transfer window, expressing his preference to sign Lille’s Botman over Sevilla’s Carlos – both players they pursued in January but were unable to bring on board.
He said: “It is going to be good in the summer. We will revisit some of the guys that we didn’t get in January, and Botman I think will be one of them. I would like to see him perhaps more than Carlos as the one to come in.”
TIF Thoughts on John Gibson’s comments about Sven Botman and Diego Carlos at Newcastle United…
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Interestingly, Botman, who is reportedly valued at £46 million, made the bizarre claim that he’s got the same body as Virgil van Dijk, with their pace being another similar attribute.
It certainly is going to be an interesting window to say the least if Eddie Howe’s men are to stay up, and you can see why Gibson claims he would prefer to see Botman sign over Carlos.
If you take a look at their numbers this season in their respective league campaigns (as per WhoScored), Botman outshines Carlos in all the categories you would want from a central defender – tackles, interceptions, fouls committed and clearances:
Add to that his age, with Botman being six years younger, he’ll be able to be part of the Newcastle side for longer moving forward if he joined.
Whether or not Howe and Newcastle go down that line, we’ll have to wait and see, but they need to stay in the division first before they can start looking at who they are going to bring in.
In other news: ‘I’m hearing’ – Journalist reveals ‘people’ at NUFC ‘blown away’ by Jan signing in training