Sven Botman's Lille teammate gives insight to Newcastle United's £35m signing with medical set

The 22-year-old travelled to Tyneside on Monday morning with his lengthy transfer saga finally drawing to a close.

The Magpies tried and failed to sign Botman in January before revisiting a potential deal following the end of the 2021-22 campaign. They faced stiff competition from Serie A champions AC Milan, who were unable to meet Lille’s asking price despite being able to offer immediate Champions League football.

And Botman’s soon to be former teammate Jose Fonte – who played for Southampton and West Ham United in the Premier League – has backed the young Dutchman to be a success at Newcastle.

“Only good things to say about him,” the Lille centre-back told talkSPORT. “He is a great guy, great personality, hard worker, tall, fast, has great left foot, gives great balls between the lines and reads the game well.

"I loved every game we played together. He is good offensively and scores goals. He can deal with the Premier League.

“For sure, it's going to be a great test for him but I think he can deal with it, 100-per-cent.”

Subject to his medical, Botman will become Newcastle’s third major summer signing just 19 days into the summer transfer window. He will follow the £15million signing of Matt Targett from Aston Villa and the £10million arrival of goalkeeper Nick Pope from Burnley earlier this month.

United’s next transfer priority is to sign an attacking player, but they are growing frustrated with the lack of progress regarding Hugo Ekitike’s proposed move from Reims.