Newcastle United's main defensive target of the summer Sven Botman wants his future decided before his summer holiday.
The 22-year-old will sign off from Holland Under-21 duty later this week with both the Magpies and AC Milan grappling for his signature. With the Serie A club still awaiting confirmation of a takeover though, it is Newcastle that are growing increasingly confident that a deal could be landed soon.
Chronicle Live understands that Lille's asking price of around €30million has been agreed by the Magpies. And in comparison with Milan, who are waiting for confirmation of transfer funds, Newcastle are said to have an advantage over the Italian champions.
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Basically Milan - who have been waiting for US private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners to confirm a purchase - are not in a place to bid for Botman. Milan have had a verbal agreement in place with Botman in recent times but that will count for nothing if they can't cough up the fee.
Botman's representatives briefed the Dutch media last night and indicated that neither Newcastle or Milan had won the race for his services. But by the same token, Botman is pushing for his summer move to be finalised so that he can enjoy his vacation.
Botman has already said goodbye to Lille and won't be happy about talk of further delays from Milan. He is currently in Wales preparing for a game with his country.
