Newcastle United turned down summer approach for Sven Botman from Champions League rival
Newcastle United may have lost Alexander Isak over the summer trading period, but the Magpies did an excellent job of keeping their squad together otherwise
In addition to keeping the core of the group intact, Newcastle also added significant upgrades in most areas of the pitch.
Despite all of the talk from the Italian media, there weren't any moves made for Sandro Tonali, while it now turns out the one player we should have been keeping an eye on was Sven Botman.
The Dutch centre-back has had a torrid time with injuries of late, but he's now making his comeback and will be looking to forge a strong partnership with Malick Thiaw.
Bayer Leverkusen wanted to sign Sven Botman
However, a report from Kicker in Germany has now revealed that Bayer Leverkusen approached Newcastle for the 25-year-old after selling Piero Hincapie to Arsenal.
Thankfully, Newcastle put a stop to it before it even got started, and Botman remains a Geordie.
Newcastle have been drawn to face Leverkusen in the Champions League, so had a deal gone through, we'd have come up against the big Dutchman as opposition.
Newcastle face Bayer Leverkusen on 10th December in the Champions League
As things are, though, it's far more likely that Botman will be wearing the black and white of Newcastle when the two sides meet on 10th December.
Botman has always been one of the players on the 'do not sell' list, but as Alexander Isak proved this summer, just because your name is on the list, there are still ways to find an exit.
Let's just hope the rest of our core group don't take a page out of Isak's book any time in the future.
