Di Marzio: Newcastle’s €50m bid and the player’s preference – Milan’s plan to land Botman

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan continued negotiations over a deal for Sven Botman after the January window ended and they lead the race to sign him, Gianluca Di Marzio claims.

The Sky journalist told William Hill (via TMW) that the management have decided the strategy to be adopted to try to sign Botman and they have already taken some very important steps.

The Dutchman has been at the top of Milan’s wish list for a long time with Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara having identified him as the ideal profile for the present and the future, while Elliott Management have always been in favour of investing in talented young players with an assured future so they have given the green light to the deal.

Milan tried to sign Botman in January but were met with a wall, and after careful evaluations they decided not to invest in other defenders who are more temporary solutions. Newcastle also want the 22-year-old and offered around €50m, but Lille said no.

That forced Milan to move immediately to try beat the competition in view of summer, so much so that in the second week of February there was a positive meeting between Botman’s entourage, Maldini and Massara at Casa Milan. The strategy of the Rossoneri is to get the player’s approval and then sit down with Lille to negotiate an asking price.

The former Ajax defender’s preference to join Milan emerged from the meeting and while nothing has been closed yet, his stance puts the Rossoneri in a position of strength in the negotiations. It remains to be understood what Lille’s asking price will be, but the signs are good.

Tags AC Milan Sven Botman
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