£30m move now ‘increasingly likely’ as NUFC close in on second major signing – The Telegraph

According to The Telegraph, Newcastle United are 'close to making a breakthrough' in their never-ending pursuit of Lille centre-back Sven Botman.

This comes from Luke Edwards' latest 'exclusive', where he reveals that there is now a 'growing sense of confidence' that the 22-year-old Dutchman will end up at St James' Park this summer.

He reports that the club - and new sporting director Dan Ashworth - are putting all of their energy into a deal for the 6ft 4' defender, believing they might be about to beat AC Milan to a £30m deal.

Edwards insists that we haven't won the race just yet, but his sources have told him that it now looks 'increasingly likely' that the former Ajax prospect will be a Newcastle player next season following weeks of talks with Lille.

He claims that we could pay around half the £30m fee up front and the remainder - around £15m - in staggered installments, revealing how this structured approach to payments has made completing deals more complicated; although makes sense in our bid to overcome FFP restrictions.

After trying and failing in January and going toe to toe with AC Milan this summer, it would be a huge coup for the club and big win for Ashworth if we could bring in one of Europe's most highly-rated centre-backs.