Newcastle transfer chief Ross Wilson has provided contract updates on key first-team stars Tino Livramento and Sven Botman.
Newcastle Issue Livramento and Botman Contract Updates
Tino Livramento and Sven Botman are set to be offered new contracts by Newcastle United.
The pair have been linked with moves away from St. James’ Park, with the former drawing interest from Manchester City, while the latter is being considered by Liverpool and Chelsea.
When fit, the duo are among the first names on the team sheet for Eddie Howe’s side.
Despite both struggling with injuries at times this season and throughout their Magpies careers, Livramento has started nine Premier League games this term, and Botman has started eight.
The former just returned from a back injury, while the latter is out with a back issue of his own.
Speaking at a briefing this week, Newcastle transfer chief Ross Wilson confirmed that the club are looking to extend both players’ contracts. Discussions are currently ongoing.
“My first days [as Newcastle transfer chief] were about analysing contracts – where are we, where are we strong, where are we weak, where have we got issues?
“It’s no secret at all that we would want to extend Tino’s contract, and we would want to extend Sven Botman’s contract too. Those discussions are ongoing.
“Some discussions are more difficult than others, but the desire would be to keep those players. Will they agree to those contracts? At the moment, I think it’s too early to say.”
Livramento’s current deal runs until 2028, while Botman’s expires in 2027.
It comes during an exciting period for the Tyneside club, who are competing in the Champions League, and it comes following the announcement of new St. James’ Park stadium plans.
Newcastle January Transfer Plans
Wilson also discussed the club’s plans for the upcoming January transfer window.
The Scotsman said: “Basically, where we’re at right now is that Eddie and I haven’t spoken about what January looks like in terms of incomings.
“What we’ve talked about is what the thoughts are about the squad right now. Where’s his head at with the squad we’ve already got? How does that look? How does he feel about that, the shape, the size of it? Individuals?
“That’s what we’ve spoken about up to now. The scouting work is always ongoing. So, the guys are doing loads of work with that all the time.”
There had been concerns that the Magpies may not be able to spend in winter due to the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), however Wilson put these rumours to bed.
“Can we spend in January?
“Yes. If we want to, we can. I think it’s fairly obvious to everybody, given the level of club spend in the summer, that we’re not going to do that again in the winter window as well, for a variety of reasons. But if we want to spend, we can.
“Of course, we’ll be creative, of course, we’ll be opportunistic as well.”
The level of spend in the summer is, of course, in reference to the signings of Nick Woltemade, Anthony Elanga, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw and the loan of Aaron Ramsdale.
They spent £55m on Wissa, however he is yet to make his debut due to injury.
Newcastle are hopeful of Wissa’s return ahead of the busy festive fixture schedule, with the ex-Brentford man missing out on AFCON after being omitted from the DR Congo squad.
