Milan does not want to make a rash decision while replacing Simon Kjaer in January. They are not looking for a stopgap solution. The potential newcomer would have to be a linchpin in the future too. For that reason, Sven Botman appears to be an ideal candidate, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports.
The Rossoneri would have had bigger resources had they continued to play in a European competition. However, they have a good relationship with Lille, from which they already signed Mike Maignan and Rafael Leao.
Botman is rather expensive and has a €25/30M evaluation. However, Milan could concoct the same formula they used to get Fikayo Tomori to make it more sustainable. The 21-year-old is left-footed and would form a perfect pair with the Englishman.
The defender joined Les Dogues from Ajax for €8M in 2020. He has accumulated 62 appearances since then and was instrumental in their title run. He already has a small tie with Milan. Former Rossoneri center-back Winston Bogarde coached him while he was in the youth academy of the Dutch club. He has yet to debut with his national team, even though he was part of the squad a couple of times.
Botman is also one of the main targets for Newcastle, The Athletic reports. Other Premier League sides are after him too. Milan will make a serious attempt before moving on to other options, the Italian newspaper adds. The return of Mattia Caldara from the loan spell at Venezia is the least likely at the moment.