Milan have lost Sven Botman to Newcastle United, so the search for a centre-back moves to William Saliba, Arthur Theate and a very slim chance for Gleison Bremer.

The Rossoneri had been in negotiations with the LOSC defender for eight months, practically agreeing personal terms for a January transfer until his club postponed any sale to the summer.

The price-tag since levitated and the delays caused by Milan’s takeover by RedBird and consequent increase in the number of people making the decisions saw Botman eventually give up waiting.

Sky Sport Italia claim Newcastle United are paying €40m including bonuses for Botman, which is comfortably double what the Serie A side was offering.

Now they turn to other targets, and the latest name mentioned is 21-year-old Saliba.

The centre-back spent this season on loan at Olympique Marseille, but he is owned by Arsenal and under contract until June 2024.

Arsenal purchased Saliba from Saint-Etienne in 2019 for €30m and have since sent him out on various loan moves.

Another candidate is Belgium international Theate, who impressed this season at Bologna and is considerably cheaper than these other options.

He is also more versatile, able to play at left-back too.

Their first choice would of course be Bremer, but Sportitalia have been confident for months that he has agreed terms with Inter and wants to join the Nerazzurri.

Torino have also pumped up the asking price from €25m last year to almost €40m now, thanks to competition from the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

15 thought on “Milan seek Botman alternatives after Newcastle deal”
  1. No money for Botman and somehow we’re going to have the money for a more expensive Bremer? Time to end that discussion.

    “Champagne taste, coca cola pocket.”

    How sad, after becoming Serie A Champions.

  2. I think all reportes can spare their time writing the rumour about players move to milan. It will bel never gonna happen 99%. Just like last transfer window. I’ll be not surprised if Milan will end up signing low cost and unknown players at the end.
    Redbird is a joke. Redbird is no different with elliot.

  3. Let’s give them a little more time! I don’t think this mercato is going to be that bad. I believe we will bring at least one “big” name. And I’m not sure we need it in defense.

  4. $40 million is big overpayment – we got Kalulu for like $400K and he is worth now $20 million – that is what I call smart moves. Newcastle will now do what PSG and Man City has been doing, inflating the marker prices because all the sudden they got rich owner. That doesn’t really create success – look at Man City and PSG – huge budget, best players and can’t win Champions League. I would much rather see Milan get a good midfielder, right wing and forward instead of another overpriced defender.

  5. SMH, right on. We should not pay oil inflation prices just because. Look for the right deal and pounce if possible. If not, we aren’t in need in that position.

  6. SMH, exactly, invest in youth and over the long run it will always return a better investment. As long as Pioli keeps things simple without too much tactic and give them a chance to develop they can still go far if they have a good coach and management system. PSG, dumps loads of money on players but long term championships can’t be bought you also need a good coach, right style, right philosophy, right management. Look at Liverpool or RM.

  7. I don’t understand some of these “rumors.” They report that Milan is out on a player because his cost is too high, but then link Milan with other players who are just as costly if not more. It’s totally counterintuitive.

    Anyway, I have a hard time seeing Milan spending more than €20m on a player at this point.

  8. @DAN Inter: whilst Inter failed to get last season scudetto (and international successes) that they want, how about that ;))

  9. AC should offer Romagnoli a new contact. Saves them money signing a new player and they keep a high level CB and their captain. One of the reasons the club don’t have money is that they keep loosing valuable players for free. Donna, hakan, kessie…

  10. @Milanistavn

    Inter won 2 trophies last season which is a better season than a lot of clubs. As for Milan ‘winning’ the Scudetto, they were lucky to have friendly opponents gifting them wins whilst laughing.

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