MN: Money prevails over a project – background on Milan’s pursuit of Botman

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan were not able to get the signing of Sven Botman over the line despite having worked on the operation for months as Newcastle United have won the race.

MilanNews confirms that Botman was the number one target Milan had for the defence and they kept the negotiation alive with an offer not much lower than that of Newcastle United. However, on Friday evening the Dutchman decided to yield to the pressure of Lille who wanted to accept the higher bid, thus no longer waiting for the Rossoneri to agree terms.

Milan did everything to get him, but Newcastle’s financial package prevailed over a ‘fascinating’ project that Milan had put forward since December. It is a lesson on the market that ultimately money must back up statements of intent.

Now the management will turn to other options such as Francesco Acerbi to bolster a defensive department where the renewal of Pierre Kalulu (with a well earned pay rise) will also be important.

Tags AC Milan Sven Botman

13 Comments

  1. When Does Acmilan Get Money,Because they Have Won the Title and Have Rich Owners.
    It is Demotivation even if they miss out it was Better to sign Immidiately some one like Esteve Maxime and Thiaw or Miti.

  2. give Newcastle United a few years and watch them become Premier League powerhouse arabs investors don’t play around ,
    they will toke newcastle from nothing to be a champion in just few years mark my word if that’s not great football project then what it is ,
    milan project is worst by far a club that can’t keep their best players because they don’t want to pay players salary depending on they’re market value has brighter project ?
    sad me to say that but its true
    next year without franck kessie and without real investment in the team we gonna be sh$t and we not gonna make the top 4 mark my words

    1. Why don’t you go support Newcastle then? I am sure, they are going to finish in top four in the Premier League next season… Also they will be a contender of 2023-24 Champions League, I am sure!

    2. True to that my friend. Milan deserved 100mill on transfer budget but the new owners they don’t believe in the team they just bought so they put little amount of money. Like wtf plus it’s 15-20 more than they put on Toulouse like wth MILAN WON THE SCUDETTO . Milan wasn’t on serie b like Toulouse were in ligue 2 ok good job but they were the favourites to be promoted. I also said to my friends and in this site that they better pray Milan reach top 3 this season without a better investment so see you on Europa League or europa conference league next year

    3. This is so true. No idea why folk are positive about new owners. They don’t look like they want to invest much in players.

    4. I’ll mark your word and get back to you in 10 years when Newcastle has only won the FA Cup once and that’s it. They MIGHT visit UCL once or twice but we won’t be seeing them lifting ANY major trophies. MARK. MY. WORD.

  3. Newcastle are more a project/challenge than ACMilan. They’ve literally just won league so not much of a challenge. Arguably the Premier League is a much more challenging league than Serie A. Its just no way near as strong. ACMilan have a great history of trophies more so than Newcastle but they still have a good history, nice ciry/region and a big big project at its very beginning. Look where Manchester City started and where they are now. Vincent Kompany was a lynchpin signing that stayed through it all. Newcastle clearly following a similar blueprint and felt that Botman is worth the investment for the next decade. Simply put Newcastle could afford to meet the price Lille wanted and ACMilan couldnt find another £10m+. You aren’t talking a few million here… Its a sizeable difference. Botman has always talked well of Newcastle since January as well and the owner of Newcastle spoke highly publicly of Botman and how they spoke well together but couldn’t get agreement January for Lille to release him so he was willing to come even when Newcastle were relegation threatened. I’m sure Botman would have had a tough decision had Milan matched the bid but still stand by there is a much more interesting project at Newcastle from the ground up and the future they are setting themselves up for. Where’s is the real challenge at ACMilan at this stage? Like I say probably much bigger one at Newcastle to get them challenging. It’s actually a very brave decision for Botman and to be commended for not just taking an easy choice.

  4. Did everything? The only offer one time deal and that was it . The player on the other side rejected the first offer from Newcastle that was 36 mill but Milan didn’t push and matched Newcastles 36mill offer so ….. Newcastle put an extra 4 mill just to be sure because they thought that Milan would push but they didn’t so… They didn’t try everything this article should be in the trash and misinformation where it belongs

  5. Perhaps an unpopular opinion here. I’m not too bitter about missing Botman, as I always feel that more money has to be invested on a Kessie’s replacement and the attacking department. Defence is at the moment quite secure. Surely if Romagnoli is leaving then a new player must come, but even a rotation player will do. Some talks about Acerbi, and I think he’s quite okay.

    1. 30-40M€ on a CB (or a backup-CB) would have been insane. He might have been a good addition to the team but not for that price.

  6. Redbird will likely build a new stadium and spend very little on players. They will hope that Milan finish in a champions League spot and then sell Ac Milan. To be honest I am surprised anyone paid what they did for a club that doesn’t even own a stadium. Inter or Juve will win the league I suspect Milan will be lucky to get 4th this year.

  7. If Botman is really top player, our competitor in signing him won’t be mere Newcastle. It is the media who keep pushing Botman story.

    Ambrosini had revealed few months ago that Maldini told him he do not plan to spend on center-back due to the emergence of Kalulu unless the player is top player.

  8. Serie A may not be the most lucrative league in the world, but, it is one of the toughest. The winner cannot compete with a club that was almost relegated last season in the premier league. Now, they are talking about Acerbi. We play in the champions league n get beaten in d first round, because we don’t have enough quality in-depth. What was then the purpose of the fight for d scudetto last season. We fans can’t even speak where other fans are talking football

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