Sven Botman's angry reaction that Eddie Howe will love as Newcastle set to get a new dimension

If any outsiders wondered whether Newcastle United were serious, well, signing Sven Botman is another timely reminder of the Magpies' long-term ambitions. As Bruno Guimaraes put it earlier this year, Newcastle want to become a 'big power'.

Dan Burn was previously the club's most expensive centre-back, at £13m, but Botman will arrive from Lille for a fee nearly triple that amount after Newcastle outbid AC Milan. Yes, you read that right.

Given Botman's profile, Champions League experience and potential, it would not be an exaggeration to say Newcastle have not made a signing quite like this at the back since bringing in Jonathan Woodgate - even if the new arrival will naturally need a little bit of time to bed in.

Woodgate, after all, was a more established defender when he joined Newcastle and had already played more than a century of games in the Premier League by the time he swapped Elland Road for St James' Park in 2003. Howe will recognise that Botman needs an adjustment period, just as the Newcastle head coach did with Bruno, as the pace and physicality of the top-flight is very different to Ligue 1. You only have to look at the recent struggles of former Newcastle target and Botman's former team-mate, Boubakary Soumare, at Leicester City to realise that.

However, in saying that, Botman is only a year younger than Woodgate was when he joined Newcastle and the 22-year-old has a high ceiling as someone who can grow with the club over the course of his long-term contract. Woodgate, incidentally, is a huge fan of Botman and that backing carries particular weight when you consider the former Galactico's standing as a player but, also, that he used to be a talent spotter for Liverpool, who have a superb recruitment