Newcastle United made multiple attempts to sign Sven Botman during the January transfer window, repeatedly coming up against the wall of Lille.
The Ligue 1 side know the defender is important for them for the rest of the season, and unless there’s an injury or a dramatic drop in form between now and the end of the campaign, they also know they can get good money in the summer for the Dutchman.
Therefore, they saw no need to sell in the winter market, unless it was for a ridiculous price. Botman didn’t want to agitate for a transfer either, although in an interview published a few hours before the window closed, he made clear he’d been tempted by the chance of joining Newcastle.
Eddie Howe’s side weren’t the only club in the fight, with the Italian media repeatedly covering interest from AC Milan. The Rossoneri decided to leave the potential transfer for the summer, but there’s a Newcastle shaped problem ahead of them.
That means that even if Milan succeed in signing the player from Lille, they’ll have to pay more than they would have otherwise, given the interest from a club with ‘almost unlimited economic’ conditions.
Much will depend on Botman himself, and Milan haven’t given up by any stretch of the imagination. The Rossoneri would expect that, all conditions being equal, the player would choose them over the Magpies.
Of course, that depends on how much a high salary means to the defender, and how high Lille can drag the price. Milan have the advantage of the Growth Decree, an Italian tax law which means incomers to the country, including footballers, pay a lower rate of tax.
Still, Newcastle’s ‘riches’ can win the day.
