Ongoing since January, Newcastle United’s attempts to sign Sven Botman from Lille have been thwarted by Milan.
That’s because the Dutchman would much prefer to head to Italy, where he would play Champions League football, but recent reports suggested the Ligue 1 side preferred what the Magpies had to offer, and were holding out for their player to choose the north of England rather than the south of Europe.
That hasn’t happened yet, with Botman trying to force the issue, but now Gazzetta dello Sport throw a twist in the narrative, claiming ‘the offers presented by Milan and Newcastle so far are the same’.
This is some way off previous claims that the Premier League side were offering €10m more than their Italian counterparts, but the newspaper explain there is now ‘an air of auction, which would favour the British for obvious reasons’.
In fact, ‘if the negotiation were to turn into a bidding war’, it’s clear ‘that Milan would pull out by evaluation alternative profiles’.
Still, the Serie A club still have the player’s desire on their side, as the idea of joining a reinvigorated historical club ‘has always fascinated’ Botman.
The big question is, ‘will that be enough to beat Newcastle’s million-dollar competition?’
