"Desperately wanted..": Major NUFC transfer claim emerges that'll leave fans delighted - opinion

A major Newcastle United transfer claim has emerged over Lille centre-back Sven Botman…

Amanda Staveley has opened up on the club’s pursuit of the Dutch central defender during the January transfer window…

She told The Athletic: “We had to encourage players – ‘we’ll be a safe place for you, we’ll deliver and grow’. Some desperately wanted to come to us, like Sven (Botman), who still does very much and has talked very openly about that.

“Coming through all that showed us we can do it, that we can stick to our plan and if we get criticised on the last day for ‘oh, you’re going after Jesse (Lingard)’, well, Jesse wanted to come to us.

“We did everything. We never stopped. From the start to the finish, we did not stop working.”

Newcastle fans will surely be delighted with these comments for multiple reasons.

Firstly, it suggests that the club worked their socks off until the deadline closed to bolster the squad and any mishaps or failures were not from a lack of effort. Whilst they were unable to strike a deal for Botman last month, they were able to complete a number of signings to boost Eddie Howe’s squad.

Dan Burn, Matt Targett, Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood all came in, with the Magpies now seven games unbeaten in the Premier League and four points clear of the relegation zone.

This shows that PIF’s work last month has had a huge impact on the team, so imagine what they could do with an entire summer and one window’s worth of experience to work with ahead of next season.

Supporters will also be pleased to read that Botman wanted the transfer and is now open to a move to the club at the end of the campaign. They will be buzzing about this as he could be a terrific addition to the team to improve the