Sven Botman was wanted by Newcastle United and AC Milan in January, but neither of them were successful in acquiring his services as Lille had no desire to sell him.
The two clubs continue to show interest in the defender for the summer and this has been widely reported in the Italian media over the past few weeks.
On March 3rd, Gazzetta dello Sport stated the Rossoneri, who have ‘overcome Newcastle’, agreed a five-year deal with the 22-year-old. Calciomercato backed up these claims and added the player has said ‘no’ to the Magpies’ ‘new’ approach.
Sport Mediaset now state the Serie A side have found an agreement with the centre-back for a five-year deal worth €3.5m per season. This was the ‘first step’ and ‘objectively the simplest’, mainly because the claimed stance taken by him on Newcastle.
Over at Calciomercato.it, they give an insight into the work done by the Italian club from the start of last month to overcome Newcastle’s competition.
It’s claimed the ‘important acceleration’ for this operation was given in February, when the player’s agent met Milan at their headquarters. This is viewed as a ‘clear sign to close quickly, despite Newcastle’s interest’ to sign Botman.
Despite all of this, it’s clear Newcastle’s intentions with Botman are serious, and the Italian media may be getting a little carried away with their optimism on behalf of Milan.
There’s been Italian claims that the defender was never keen on Newcastle, but that certainly didn’t seem to be the case when he spoke on deadline day.
