Jose Fonte appears to confirm Sven Botman's transfer to Liverpool

Lille centre-back Jose Fonte has seemingly confirmed Sven Botman's move to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.

Botman is apparently close to a move to Liverpool after a successful season so far at Lille, and his centre-back partner Fonte has hinted at it getting through in an oblique fashion on Twitter.

🤔[credit to @SambaRole for spotting it] pic.twitter.com/sjJiSKun0X

— LFC Transfer Room (@LFCTransferRoom) January 1, 2021

"Happy to help," Fonte posts cryptic message as Botman inches closer to Liverpool move

Sven Botman (L) in action for Lille

Sven Botman joined Lille from Ajax in the summer of 2020 and has impressed at the Ligue 1 club. Botman enjoyed a good loan spell with Dutch side Heerenveen before signing for Lille last summer.

The Dutch centre-back replaced Gabriel Magalhaes at Lille, with the Brazilian centre-back joining Arsenal in the summer for £27 million. Jose Fonte has been a constant at Lille for a while.

The Portugal international was a mainstay at Southampton for many seasons, where he played alongside Virgil van Dijk, now regarded as one of the best centre-backs in world football.

After short stints at West Ham United and Dalian Yifang, the 37-year old now plies his trade at Lille, where he has been a crucial presence.

Another cryptic message from Jose Fonte on this post about Sven Botman 👀👀 https://t.co/gDsYSFerfh pic.twitter.com/1Yx10hqMdK

— Krish Jhaveri (@LFCKrish) January 1, 2021

Liverpool's search for a centre-back has been well-documented. Serious injuries to starting centre-backs van Dijk and Joe Gomez has seen manager Jurgen Klopp utilise midfielder Fabinho as a centre-back, where he has excelled so far.

Liverpool's other senior centre-back is Joel Matip, who has been having his own problems with injuries over the years.

Botman's potential arrival could ease the burden on the likes of Fabinho and Matip. Since making his debut for Lille, the 20-year old has made 23 appearances in all competitions for the club, forming a solid partnership with Fonte.

Sven Botman has won 72.7% of the 275 aerial duels he's contested in league competitions since the start of the 2019/20 season:◉ 200 won of 275 aerial duels in total◉ 135 won of 184 in Eredivisie◉ 65 won of 91 in Ligue 1Big, strong and dominant in physical duels. pic.twitter.com/AeWeHwcGqL

— Scouted Football (@ScoutedFtbl) January 1, 2021

Lille are facing financial difficulties and thus would be willing to sell some of their stars. Midfielder Renato Sanches, formerly of Benfica and Bayern Munich, has also been linked with a move to Liverpool in recent weeks.

Liverpool are also said to be interested in Paris Saint-Germain attacker Kylian Mbappe, although that is unlikely to be followed upon in January.

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