“My only concern is pace. I think he’s solid enough but you look at even these clips we’ve picked here, [he’s] always slide tackling. That always concerns me when I look at a defender.
“You’re sliding because you’re late to something, you obviously lack pace, you’ve seen the danger a bit later than you should.
“There’s no doubt in this guy, he knows how to defend. He gets himself in good positions, he very rarely gets exploited for his pace which is great but then that’s in the French league he’s done that.
“The big question when you’re recruiting is can he transfer that to the Premier League which seems a faster, NBA-style pace at times.”
Newcastle’s transfer dealings have impressed so far with Burn and Kieran Trippier both impressing since joining the club, and manager Eddie Howe will be hoping that – if he signs Botman – he is able to prove he was right to trust his gut rather than Ferdinand.