Lee Ryder delivers big Newcastle "scouts" claim that'll leave fans excited - opinion

A big update has emerged on Newcastle United’s interest in Lille central defender Sven Botman…

The Chronicle reporter Lee Ryder has revealed that the club scouted him in a Ligue 1 match against Metz on Friday night.

He Tweeted: “Tidy performance from Sven Botman for Lille vs Metz. 0-0 but Metz don’t even manage shot on target as Botman controls game with 108 touches no less. #nufc scouts watching again.”

This comes after they failed to land him on a permanent basis last month and ended up bringing in Dan Burn from Brighton instead.

Newcastle fans will surely be left excited by this Tweet for multiple reasons.

Firstly, Magpies supporters will be buzzing with the prospect of the club returning to make another attempt to sign the defender in the summer. They may have missed out on a January deal but that does not appear to have affected their interest in him as they continue to scout his matches.

Fans will also be delighted as Botman could be a terrific signing for the club and his performance against Metz highlighted that. As per SofaScore, he won 100% (5/5) of his aerial duels, whilst making four clearances and one block. He also had 111 touches (more than Ryder believed) and completed a whopping 89 passes at a success rate of 88%.

This type of display has been a regular occurrence for the Dutchman as he is enjoying a fine season. In Ligue 1, he is averaging a SofaScore rating of 7.18 – winning 67% of his duels and making 4.7 clearances per game for the French outfit. He has shown that he can perform to a high standard on a consistent basis in a top European league – indicating that he could be capable of delivering in the Premier League.

Kieran Trippier is the only player in the Newcastle squad with a higher average