Newcastle United the ‘richest club in the world’ as Sven Botman agrees personal terms – pundit
Newcastle will be wishing they had completed a deal for Lille defender Sven Botman in January, according to Noel Whelan.
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, claimed the 22-year-old will be pushing for a move to a Champions League club this summer.
Newcastle are ready to battle it out with Serie A leaders AC Milan in the summer for the signature of Botman.
Football Insider revealed last Saturday (26 March) that Newcastle have already agreed personal terms with Botman but a fee has yet to be agreed with Lille.
Whelan claimed Botman would rather sign for a Champions League club – even if Eddie Howe’s side offered “£100million” for his services.
When asked if Newcastle will be ruing their failure to sign Botman in January, Whelan told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury: “Yeah, definitely.
“But January is a horrible window. If you do big business in that window, you end up paying a lot of money – it’s as simple as that.
“The situation will obviously be complicated now with Milan’s interest in him.
“Newcastle have to be realistic. Yes, they’re the richest club in the world – but they’re three years away from being able to compete with potential league-winning sides like Milan.
“Getting into the Champions League is still a way off, and they’ve got to build realistically.
“It’s not just about handing the club £100million and saying ‘there you go’. The player could well prefer to move to another club for £60million if they’ve got that Champions League football.
“That is where Newcastle have got to temper their expectations. These signings have got to be in the right category.
“When you’re looking at top players like Botman – they will want to play at that top level.”
In other news, pundit tips Newcastle to sign “another Dan Burn” after “£60m” update.