Liverpool drop interest in signing £35m Newcastle United star who was good friends with Alexander Isak
Newcastle United were preparing themselves for having to deal once again with Liverpool in the transfer market.
The Magpies received £125 million for Alexander Isak in the summer after a long, drawn-out transfer saga finally came to a close on deadline day.
It had been speculated recently that Liverpool were still looking to recruit from Tyneside, with Dutch defender Sven Botman a priority target.
Botman has often cited Virgil Van Dijk as an inspiration to him, and there's a good chance that a move to Liverpool would have been difficult for the £35 million former Lille man to turn down, especially as he and Isak had a good relationship and he'd be keen to reignite that friendship.
Liverpool have given up on signing Sven Botman
However, The Chronicle are now reporting that Liverpool have cooled their interest in the 25-year-old amid a slew of injury problems.
Liverpool are already struggling to get regular game time out of one player they signed from Newcastle, and it seems they're a bit gun-shy and don't want to repeat the same mistakes.
Botman has shown himself to be an excellent defender, but fitness has been a huge concern and his lack of game time has given Liverpool pause for thought.
We're happy to see Liverpool look elsewhere
It's good news that Botman is likely to stay at Newcastle, we just hope he can get to a place with his fitness where he's available more often than not.
Given how good he is, it's crazy that he's still not made a single appearance for the Netherlands senior team. It's only injuries that are keeping him out of the squad.
Botman is due to return from his latest injury and could be in the Newcastle squad on Sunday as Crystal Palace come to St James' Park.
