On March 9th, we covered some of the endless claims around AC Milan which displayed a huge confidence over beating Newcastle United to Sven Botman in the upcoming window.
Multiple sources around the Serie A club had been talking up the Dutchman’s preference for the Rossoneri, even saying he’d turned down approaches from other clubs, with Newcastle repeatedly named as one of those who had been snubbed.
As we explained, it felt like misplaced confidence for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the claims didn’t fit in with what the defender himself had said at the end of the last window – “Newcastle is working on a great project and I thought it would be fun to be a part of it.” – and didn’t match the noises coming from the Magpies since.
Even if Botman preferred a move to Milan over Eddie Howe’s side, there would be no reason to snub the club at this point, especially given the Rossoneri haven’t even agreed a fee with Lille.
Gazzetta dello Sport today give a little hint that things aren’t as sewn up for Milan as others have suggested. They say that whilst Botman has ‘expressed himself in favour’ of the Italians, Newcastle ‘have not let go’ and ‘the game isn’t over yet’.
All is clearly still to play for, and the recent form Howe has been getting from his team could help when it comes to persuading time.
