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.
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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 record.
Botman, like Woodgate, will bring a calmness on the ball and a winning mentality to boot, and Lille's Champions League last 16 first-leg defeat against Chelsea last February was a case in point. Although Newcastle had already compiled a host of scouting reports on Botman, after trying to sign him in January, this was a rare opportunity for the club to see how the Dutchman fared against Premier League opposition. Having previously built up a comprehensive profile on his technical and physical attributes, Botman's reaction after Lille conceded a killer second goal at Stamford Bridge will certainly have been noted.
As heads dropped and dejected Lille players fell to the ground, it was the vocal Botman who roared at his team-mates and threw his arms up and down. Botman may have been one of the youngest players on the pitch, but the Newcastle target made sure those around him knew how furious he was with the manner of Christian Pulisic's goal after right-back Zeki Celik sloppily gave the ball away deep in Chelsea's half just seconds earlier.
That is the sort of character Howe will be keen to work with. Not only is Botman a title winner who is not afraid to speak up when required but, also, most importantly, the number four's primary concern was his team's result rather than how he played even if he was one of the few Lille players who handled the occasion that night.
So what else will Botman bring? Well, before you even get into Botman's technical attributes, the 6ft 4in defender will give Newcastle added presence at set-pieces, following the arrival of with Dan Burn (6ft 7in), Nick Pope (6ft 6in) and Chris Wood (6ft 3in) in 2022, while also reducing the average age of the squad as the club's only centre-back under the age of 28.
On the field, Botman will play his part as Newcastle's style gradually evolves in the coming years. Rather than squeezing the pitch and always launching it forward to a target man like Chris Wood, for example, Howe traditionally prefers his goalkeeper to go short and this is where Botman could come in as someone who likes to play out from the back.
They may be very different players but Botman, tellingly, had the most touches by far compared to Dan Burn, Fabian Schar and Jamaal Lascelles last season, racking up 1,753 in total for Lille. Having come through the ranks at Ajax's academy, it is hardly a surprise that Botman's pass completion rate was an impressive 89.1% - again the highest figure of the quartet.
These were not just simple, short passes. In fact, 244 of Botman's 314 long balls - those passes hit 30 yards or more - picked out a team-mate. That passing range could give Newcastle a new dimension, particularly with Botman's ability to switch the play.
Defenders may have more time in Ligue 1 but to put those figures into perspective, only 71.2% of Fabian Schar's overall passes were accurate last season and just 51.3% of his long balls reached his intended target. The Switzerland international is hardly a slouch in possession, either.
However, while Botman's numbers in possession catch the eye, it is easy to forget that the Dutchman is still developing. Defensively, of the four, it is actually Dan Burn who stood out last season when it came to doing some of the basics Botman will be judged on.
According to Fbref, which uses data from StatsBomb, Burn made more successful tackles (27) than Botman, Schar and Lascelles while playing for Newcastle and Brighton last season; reclaimed the ball back more than the others within five seconds of applying pressure (102); and made more clearances (166) and blocks (61). Schar, meanwhile, made the most interceptions (75).
There is nothing to separate Botman, Burn and Lascelles in the air. It is Lascelles, the captain, who leads the way, after winning 73.9% of his aerial duels compared to Botman's 73.3% and Burn's 73.2% while Schar beat an opponent in the air 53.1% of the time.
It would be a surprise if each of Botman's team-mate's numbers did not improve this season in direct response to renewed competition from the new signing. Just as the arrival of Nick Pope will push Martin Dubravka, in the same way Jonjo Shelvey et al raised their game after Bruno Guimaraes came in back in January, Burn and Schar will be desperate to keep hold of their places while Lascelles won't want to be effective fourth-choice as club captain.
Clearly, what was once Newcastle's weakness, a lack of depth at the back, has now become a strength in just a matter of months. When Newcastle hosted champions Man City at St James' back in December, for example, Matt Ritchie and Jacob Murphy were fielded as converted full-backs while Lascelles and Ciaran Clark, who took Newcastle up from the Championship, in 2017, were still holding the fort through the middle.
It goes without saying that Newcastle's back four on the opening day of the new season will be unrecognisable from the one which contested that 4-0 defeat and Martin Dubravka might not even be starting in goal.
Howe has remoulded Newcastle's entire backline at a cost of around £85m - and that includes the £10m spent on Burnley shot-stopper Nick Pope. It is at the stage now where Howe could field two different defences and 'keepers: Nick Pope/Martin Dubravka; Kieran Trippier/Emil Krafth; Sven Botman/Jamaal Lascelles; Dan Burn/Fabian Schar; and Matt Targett/Jamal Lewis/Paul Dummett.
Few mid-table sides have the resources to reshape a leaky defence in the space of just six months but, equally, that overall figure is not much more than what Manchester United splurged on just one centre-back, Harry Maguire, in 2019 or what Chelsea forked out on goalkeeper Kepa a year previously.
Going by those two transfers, money alone is not a magic wand solution and good coaching has been essential to Newcastle's transformation from a side who could not win a game, let alone keep a clean sheet, to one that has become a nastier outfit out of possession who are hard to beat.
When it comes to that coaching, Howe and his members of staff often take individual departments aside to work more closely with them. Assistant Jason Tindall, for instance, has previously been known under Howe to work with the defenders, repeating the same core drills every day, and also focusing on defending set-pieces.
That work is paying off. In the first 19 league games of last season, Newcastle let in 42 goals; in the second half of the top-flight campaign, the Magpies conceded 20 goals, keeping seven clean sheets in the process.
It is a strong base to build from and with Pope, Botman and Targett all arriving early in the summer, Howe and his staff have valuable time to work with these new signings. That already feels significant.
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