AC Milan are close to finalizing the arrival of Sven Botman, Fabrizio Romano reports. According to the transfer market expert, talks between the Serie A frontrunners and Lille OSC are at an advanced stage and work is underway to reach an agreement soon. Botman is said to be on the verge of accepting AC Milan’s offer.
I Rossoneric have been in the market for Botman for some time. The representatives of the 22-year-old centre-back were spotted in Milan in February for talks with AC Milan. The Italian superpower made an attempt to free him from Lille in January, but the reigning champions of France had no intention of cooperating with a winter departure. As a result, a bid from Newcastle United worth fifty million euros was even referred to the trash can.
AC Milan are really close to complete Sven Botman deal as first signing for the next season, work in progress. Talks are advanced as planned for months. † #ACMilanAC Milan are working to reach full agreement with Lille soon – Botman is ready to accept their proposal. pic.twitter.com/cNv9bCXfpc
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 5, 2022
Paolo Maldini – technical director at AC Milan – already praised Botman at the beginning of January. “He is a great player. But he is not the only good defender in the world. And he is still owned by Lille and has a contract until 2024,” said Maldini. “We really need a defender due to Simon Kjaer’s injury. This problem can be solved in several ways. We could hire a player for six months. Or we are fully committed to the arrival of a player for the coming years. But then we have to determine the price.”
Then Botman turned out to be too expensive for AC Milan, but now he seems to be on his way to Italy. If the Italians succeed in reaching an agreement with Lille and Botman, Newcastle United will in any case be trumped. “Some players really wanted to come to us, like Sven Botman. He is still interested and talking very openly about it,” said Amanda Staveley, co-owner of Newcastle United, at the end of February. The Magpies nevertheless seem to go wrong.
Lille paid eight million euros in the summer of 2020 to let Botman loose at Ajax, after he had played for sc Heerenveen on a rental basis for a year. The Jong Oranje international has since played 75 games for lesson Dogues, with whom he became champion of France last season and thus played in the Champions League this year. At AC Milan, Botman seems to have to compete with, among others, Fikayo Tomori, Pierre Kalulu, Simon Kjaer and Alessio Romagnoli.