Newcastle want to sign “rapid2 £25m ace who’d star alongside Botman

The January transfer window officially opened for business last week and Newcastle United could use the winter market to bolster their squad ahead of the second half of the season.

A 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday has left the Magpies in fifth place in the Premier League table, which could earn them Champions League qualification for the 2025/26 campaign.

Eddie Howe’s side are well in the race to land a place in Europe’s premier cup competition for the second time in his tenure and could add more quality to their squad to give the team a boost ahead of the final few months of the term.

Newcastle have won ten and drawn five of their opening matches in the Premier League so far, with 34 goals scored and only 22 conceded to date.

This shows that Howe already has a well-rounded team that has provided plenty of quality offensively and defensively in the top-flight, which means that they do not have to make wholesale changes to the group this window.

However, one or two quality additions could improve the squad and Newcastle are reportedly in the market to bolster their options at the heart of the defence.

Newcastle’s interest in Ligue 1 colossus

According to CaughtOffside, Newcastle United are just one of a number of teams interested in a deal to sign RC Lens central defender Kevin Danso before February’s deadline.

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The report claims that both the Magpies and fellow Premier League sides Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United want to sign the former Southampton titan, who played in the English top-flight during his time on loan with the Saints in the 2019/20 campaign.

It adds that European teams Juventus, Inter Milan, Roma, Bayern Munich, Fenerbahce, and Villarreal could also be in the race to secure his services ahead of the second half of the season. This suggests that there could be plenty of competition for the centre-back and that it will not be an easy deal for Howe and his team to complete.

CaughtOffside reveals that Lens are looking for a fee as high as €30m (£25m) to allow their star defender to move on from the club this month, although it remains to be seen whether or not any of the interested clubs are prepared to pay that much for his signature.

The report describes it as an ‘affordable’ price but does not explicitly state that Newcastle share that view, so it is unclear how likely a deal is for the Magpies at this moment in time.

If Howe and the recruitment team can secure a transfer for Danso, though, then he could come in and star alongside Sven Botman at the back moving forward.

Sven Botman’s successful return to action

The Dutch defender made his first competitive appearance for Newcastle since March in the 2-1 win over Spurs on Saturday, starting alongside Dan Burn at centre-back.

Despite playing on the right side of the pairing, as a left-footed player, Botman produced a terrific display to help his team to secure all three points against Ange Postecoglou’s side, with a strong showing out of possession.

As you can see in the table above, the former Ajax starlet made a number of important defensive interventions to prevent Martin Dubravka from being troubled, whilst not allowing any Spurs players to dribble past him in 89 minutes.

The 24-year-old star’s best form came during the 2022/23 campaign, his debut season in England, as he played 36 times in the Premier League and helped the team to keep 11 clean sheets as they qualified for the Champions League.

Botman won 68% of his ground duels and 66% of his aerial contests in the division that term, which shows that he has the defensive quality and physical strength to dominate opposition attackers on the ground and in the air on a regular basis.

As a left-footed player, the Newcastle titan should also play on the left-side of the pairing ideally and that is, partially, why Danso would be a dream signing for him this month.

Why Newcastle should sign Kevin Danso

Firstly, the Austria international is a right-footed defender who operates on the right side of the defence, which means that he would complement the left-footed Botman well as part of a balanced pairing.

Secondly, and most importantly, Danso’s form in Ligue 1 for Lens suggests that he has the quality to come in and form a solid partnership with the Dutchman from a defensive perspective.

As you can see in the chart above, the Austrian titan, who analyst Ben Mattinson claimed has “rapid” recovery pace, offers more than Botman in possession as a progressive passer and carrier of the ball – based on their respective form over the last 365 days.

This suggests that Danso could step up as the aggressive player in possession out of the pair to push Newcastle up the pitch, whilst the Dutch ace can sit back and focus on being a dominant defensive force.

As you can see in the table above, the 26-year-old has outperformed current right-footed Newcastle centre-back Fabian Schar in a host of key defensive metrics.

Schar, who turns 34 this year, could provide an experienced and brilliant squad option if the club can agree a deal for Danso, who appears to have the quality to be a fantastic and long-term replacement for the Switzerland international.

His statistics for Lens suggest that he has the ability, in and out of possession, to come in and star alongside Botman at the heart of the defence, as he is a progressive passer who is also dominant in the air and great at cutting out opposition attacks.

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