Newcastle United

Newcastle United: Graves makes huge claim on new signing

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Image for Newcastle United: Graves makes huge claim on new signing

Sky Sports journalist Pete Graves has made a huge claim on Newcastle United’s new signing Sven Botman, comparing the player to Liverpool star man Virgil Van Dijk.

After bringing in Matt Targett on a permanent deal after his impressive loan last season and acquiring Nick Pope from relegated Burnley, Newcastle has made their first splash into Europe this summer with a £33.3 million deal for LOSC Lille defender Sven Botman.

The defender has impressed under Christophe Galtier at the French side and after completing his move to the Premier League outfit, Graves has heaped praise on the player, stating that he is built in the same mould as one of the best in the world, Van Dijk.

He said on the LOADED MAG NUFC YouTube channel, “It’s another hugely talented footballer whose got an incredible career ahead of him, I was speaking to a Dutch football journalist the other day… he said this guy is built just like Virgil Van Dijk.

“He’s exactly the same height as him, he plays with the same velocity, and he flies into tackles and he’s tailor-made for the Premier League. I think he gives Eddie Howe a brilliant option at centre-back.” (10:25)

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TIF Thoughts on Botman to Newcastle…

Botman can help improve the Magpie’s defence under Eddie Howe next season, while they were impressive in the back end of last season, Botman is certainly an improvement to partner either Dan Burn or Fabian Schar next season.

For Les Douges last season Botman played 32 times across all competitions and ranked in the 87th percentile for non-penalty goals, the 77th for pass completion with 89%, and the 74th on blocks with 1.99 per game compared to other centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues.

Newcastle still has work to do in the transfer window with links to Hugo Ekitike, Christian Eriksen, and Lucas Paqueta, but starting in the manner they have and bringing in a long-term target in Botman is a great start fans will surely be elated with.

Will Botman impress at Newcastle?

Yes

Yes

No

No

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