Sven Botman's lack of pace is a 'big question' which could be exposed in the Premier League amid Newcastle United's ongoing transfer interest.
That is the view of former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, who fears the Lille centre-back could struggle with the speed of football in England.
The Magpies were unable to agree a deal with the Ligue 1 champions for Botman in the January transfer window, but retain an interest in the 22-year-old.
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Botman has since described the plans for a new era at St James' Park as a 'nice project', and the Netherlands under-21 international is expected to be the subject of a summer bidding war with AC Milan and Tottenham also interested.
The defender was named in Lille's starting eleven for the first leg of their Champions League knockout tie against Chelsea on Tuesday night, and Ferdinand labelled him as a 'consistent' and 'solid performer'.
Speaking ahead of the European tie however, Ferdinand outlined his fears that Botman's propensity for slide tackling is hiding a weakness that could be exploited in the Premier League.
He told BT Sport: "I think there is still much to do. I think he’s been a consistent, solid performer for Lille but, again, going into the Premier League is a different proposition.
"My only concern is pace. I think he’s solid enough but you look at even these clips we’ve picked here, [he's] always slide tackling. That always concerns me when I look at a defender.
"You’re sliding because you’re late to something, you obviously lack pace, you’ve seen the danger a bit later than you should. As good as these clips do look, as a reservation that would concern me.
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"There’s no doubt in this guy, he knows how to defend. He gets himself in good positions, he very rarely gets exploited for his pace which is great but then that’s in the French league he’s done that.
"The big question when you’re recruiting is can he transfer that to the Premier League which seems a faster, NBA-style pace at times."
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