Friday, January 7, 2022 at 5:20 PM• Chris Meijer • Last update: 17:19

Newcastle United have made an improved offer for Sven Botman, reports The Athletic. Transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano reported earlier this week that Lille OSC had brushed off a €35 million offer for the 21-year-old Dutch centre-back. The reigning champions of France would like to keep Botman until the summer and it is therefore according to The Athletic It is unclear how the response will be to Newcastle’s improved offer, which Botman now has at the top of his wish list in the search for defensive reinforcements.

With Kieran Trippier, Newcastle presented the first acquisition on Friday since the acquisition by a wealthy Saudi investment fund. The English fullback cost the Magpies reportedly only fourteen million euros, but for Botman considerably deeper into the pouch must be felt. Lille would rather not lose Botman during the winter transfer window. Les Dogues – currently number eight in Ligue 1 – have to chase after the winter break to qualify for European football.

In addition, Lille is in the eighth final of the Champions League, in which Chelsea is the opponent. Lille thinks that more candidates for Botman – whose contract still runs until mid-2025 – will register at the end of the season. At the same time, due to its financial situation, the French club is forced to sell Botman if an ‘exceptional offer’ comes in. The Athletic writes that Newcastle must pay an amount of 48 million euros for this. It is unclear how high the improved bid of the Magpies is.

Botman would himself be interested in a switch to Newcastle, currently penultimate in the Premier League with eleven points from nineteen matches. Incidentally, the Italian La Republica Something different on Thursday, namely that Botman would prefer a switch to AC Milan. I Rossoneric are also expressly interested and those rumors were fueled by Paolo Maldini, who spoke highly of the international of the Dutch Juniors.

“Botman is a very good player. However, he plays at Lille and is under contract there until 2025. He is of course not the only good defender, but with Simon Kjaer’s injury we really need someone. Whether it’s on a rental basis for the next six months or a long-term purchase, we’ll see later,” Maldini said. DAZN. At the moment, however, it is not obvious that AC Milan can cough up the hefty transfer fee requested by Lille.