June 30, (THEWILL) – Sven Botman, a Dutch centre back for Ligue 1 side, Lille, has revealed his rationale for choosing Newcastle United over Italian powerhouse, Inter Milan.
On Monday, the Magpies announced that they had reached an agreement in principle to sign the 22-year-old defender from Lille. The announcement was accompanied by a photo of Botman at St. James’ Park holding up a Newcastle jersey. Lille accepted £40m and Botman signed a five-year contract after passing his physical.
The centre-back has been a target for the Tynesiders ever since the Saudi Arabian takeover last year, but things could have been quite different had Serie A champions, Milan not fallen through on a deal to sign him.
Asked why he ultimately chose Newcastle, Botman admitted: “In the end, the beautiful project of Newcastle United in combination with playing in the Premier League was decisive. The latter has actually been a dream my whole life. AC Milan also gave me a good feeling, but Newcastle United felt just a little better in the end.”
After costing Lille just €9m, Botman was also questioned over the significant sum that the Magpies want to pay for him, which is the highest sum ever paid for a defender by a team outside of the “big six” and he acknowledged that it was significant of the value the club had for him and that he was willing to repay Newcastle for it.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
