Magpies could pounce on Manchester United’s ‘lack of urgency’ for Amadou Haidara, Lille president speaks out amid Newcastle United and Sven Botman speculation

Here, we round-up all the latest stories that have emerged today surrounding Newcastle United:

Merson on Wood debut

Paul Merson believes Chris Wood had a ‘poor’ debut against Watford yesterday, describing his performance as ‘worrying’:

"He was poor. He had half a chance and he headed it and it hit the roof of the net but when you make your debut you usually do well!” Merson said post-match.

"I don't think he gets the service and I feel for him in that way, he didn't really touch the ball too many times. I'd be surprised if he touched it 20 times, not through his fault.

"The amount of times Fraser went down the wing or Saint-Maximin on the other side and never crossed the ball was a lot.

"When you are playing against a team like Watford, who haven't kept a clean sheet all season, and you bring in a centre forward who has to try and get you out of trouble and he never looked like scoring in a month of Sundays - it is a little bit worrying."

Lille president rebuffs Botman claims

Lille president Olivier Letang has revealed that despite great Newcastle United interest, the Ligue 1 side will not sell Sven Botman this window.

Speaking to RMC, as picked up by 90min.com, Letang confirmed that Botman is still a major part of Lille’s plans going forward:

“We had enquiries last summer for Sven but we were clear in saying that we needed Sven this season," Letang said.

"We had a run in the Champions League and we managed to finish first in our group. We have big objectives for the end of the season so Sven will stay with us until the end of the season to help us achieve these objectives.”

Toon could pounce on Red Devil’s ‘lack of urgency’

Newcastle United could take advantage of Manchester United’s ‘lack of urgency’ to land RB Leipzig midfielder Amadou Haidara.

Haidara, who has a £33m release clause, has been linked with a move to England, however, despite interest from Manchester United, their failure to make a concrete bid could come back to haunt them with Newcastle ready to pounce for the 23-year-old - according to the Mirror.

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