Sven Botman back late December/early January 'at the earliest' (Howe)

[Joey47]

Just now, The Prophet said:

Surely not? He told Maldini that he'd rather die than join another club.

[Nucasol]

2 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

Surely not? He told Maldini that he'd rather die than join another club.

It’s all a ruse. It’s all set up for him to commit hara-kiri in the centre circle at the Bilbao game wearing a Maldini 3 Milan jersey.

[MrRaspberryJam]

4 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

Surely not? He told Maldini that he'd rather die than join another club.

 

Why's Fonte telling Maldini that?

[gjohnson]

1 hour ago, Lazarus said:

 

Who doesnt?

 This has to be post of the year

[GeordieDazzler]

Lilles attempt to start a bidding war has left them with less options that they had previously. They seem all over the place, desperate for money but constantly moving the goalposts. Reckon our pokerface will hold.

[r0cafella]

2 minutes ago, GeordieDazzler said:

Lilles attempt to start a bidding war has left them with less options that they had previously. They seem all over the place, desperate for money but constantly moving the goalposts. Reckon our pokerface will hold.

I can’t recall the numbers but how much is our current reported bid compared to what we offered in January?

[Rich]

Aye, I know they had CL last season but they've just finished 10th in France and Botman clearly wants to leave. They're not in a strong position here.

[GeordieDazzler]

About the same I think and they have much less leverage than they did at that point in time.

[r0cafella]

6 minutes ago, GeordieDazzler said:

About the same I think and they have much less leverage than they did at that point in time.

Time to revise our offer down then

[Wolfcastle]

1 hour ago, The Prophet said:

Surely not? He told Maldini that he'd rather die than join another club.

Well I don't want a corpse playing in the centre of our defence,

had enough of that with (the former) Darren Bradshaw back in the day

[Gawalls]

3 hours ago, McCormick said:

 Guy’s gonna have a face like thunder holding up his Newcastle shirt in his presser. Heard he’ll be taking a red magic marker to ink in the white stripes later.

Be sat in the middle of the pitch with depression when we play Bournemouth 

[prefabtoon]

We need to close the Botman thread now obviously doesn't want to move to Newcastle.

 

 

Edited June 22, 2022 by prefabtoon

[Gawalls]

We might get him in free - that botman rule I think it is

[Milanista]

I think the journalists are really stabbing in the dark.

 

On the Milan end, the President of Milan said this when asked about Milan losing out on targets: "You say we lose so many opportunities, I don’t know. We lose a lot of chatter, when I read the newspapers I don’t see dozens of completed transactions but dozens of hypotheses. We at Milan have a habit of being more reserved than others, and this is due to Maldini and Massara."

 

He also seemed to affirm that Maldini and Massara will be renewing.

 

It's funny how the hypotheses over why Milan hasn't made signings vary wildly, with rumors of a "50m transfer budget" and other rumors about our new owners having no money, which they say is why the deals haven't been done. If that was the case, why hasn't Newcastle snapped up Botman yet? Why haven't you all signed Paqueta yet?

 

I think Lille is trying to get higher bids, and they're not getting them. Lille are spreading rumors of PSG interest in Renato Sanches, another Lille player that Milan want, and yet... PSG have Verratti and Wijnaldum on the roster, why would they get him? It's a very odd situation, and it seems that Lille are really trying to play hardball.

 

The weird aspect is that Elliott, the current owners and soon-to-be minority owners of Milan, they hold a strong interest in Lille. The fact journalists haven't even thrown out this lazy idea out there is confusing to me, but it has to be a factor in negotiations, either positive (Lille giving Milan a deal) or negative (Elliott now have a stronger incentive to push up the price now that they are selling 70% of Milan)--so it seems that journalists are not even being creative.

 

It also seems that Longo is losing his credibility that he built up. It doesn't help that he works for a poorly regarded paper, but he had the inside scoop on players last year and on extensions, but it seems this summer has eroded confidence in his reporting. Vitiello is still seen as the strongest, and he has yet to say anything recently.

 

So there is a lot of confusion, and it seems that Milan is not a very leaky ship, with hints having to come from North Korea-like interpretations of random pieces of information. Our keeper, Maignan, has more-or-less hinted that Milan's next goal is to win the CL, after releasing a video. That's how little news is coming out from Milan, just to put things into perspective.

 

That's my news report, lol, and now back to the studio!

[et tu brute]

22 minutes ago, Milanista said:

I think the journalists are really stabbing in the dark.

 

On the Milan end, the President of Milan said this when asked about Milan losing out on targets: "You say we lose so many opportunities, I don’t know. We lose a lot of chatter, when I read the newspapers I don’t see dozens of completed transactions but dozens of hypotheses. We at Milan have a habit of being more reserved than others, and this is due to Maldini and Massara."

 

He also seemed to affirm that Maldini and Massara will be renewing.

 

It's funny how the hypotheses over why Milan hasn't made signings vary wildly, with rumors of a "50m transfer budget" and other rumors about our new owners having no money, which they say is why the deals haven't been done. If that was the case, why hasn't Newcastle snapped up Botman yet? Why haven't you all signed Paqueta yet?

 

I think Lille is trying to get higher bids, and they're not getting them. Lille are spreading rumors of PSG interest in Renato Sanches, another Lille player that Milan want, and yet... PSG have Verratti and Wijnaldum on the roster, why would they get him? It's a very odd situation, and it seems that Lille are really trying to play hardball.

 

The weird aspect is that Elliott, the current owners and soon-to-be minority owners of Milan, they hold a strong interest in Lille. The fact journalists haven't even thrown out this lazy idea out there is confusing to me, but it has to be a factor in negotiations, either positive (Lille giving Milan a deal) or negative (Elliott now have a stronger incentive to push up the price now that they are selling 70% of Milan)--so it seems that journalists are not even being creative.

 

It also seems that Longo is losing his credibility that he built up. It doesn't help that he works for a poorly regarded paper, but he had the inside scoop on players last year and on extensions, but it seems this summer has eroded confidence in his reporting. Vitiello is still seen as the strongest, and he has yet to say anything recently.

 

So there is a lot of confusion, and it seems that Milan is not a very leaky ship, with hints having to come from North Korea-like interpretations of random pieces of information. Our keeper, Maignan, has more-or-less hinted that Milan's next goal is to win the CL, after releasing a video. That's how little news is coming out from Milan, just to put things into perspective.

 

That's my news report, lol, and now back to the studio!

Pay the money and you will get him as you won't unless you do. Instead of asking why has he not signed for Newcastle yet, I think you need to concentrate of why he hasn't signed for Milan yet.

[Milanista]

23 minutes ago, et tu brute said:

Pay the money and you will get him as you won't unless you do. Instead of asking why has he not signed for Newcastle yet, I think you need to concentrate of why he hasn't signed for Milan yet.

Maldini doesn't participate in auctions. He offers what he thinks is reasonable, maybe he'll come back with bonuses, otherwise, he doesn't participate in the whole "for a few million more" game.

 

To be fair, I have laid out why I think he hasn't signed for Milan yet: Lille want more money. Milan won't offer more.

 

Milan is building its squad to challenge for the CL, Newcastle, with respect, is still building its foundations. They are at different stages of fundamental, from the bottom-to-the-top re-builds. Milan's rebuild started 3 years ago, Newcastle's started 6 months ago. I am not trying to disparage Newcastle.

 

Newcastle and Milan, unfortunately for Lille, seem to not only have similar transfer targets, but, they also have similar negotiation tactics, they're using Mergers and Acquisitions tactics, rather than sports fan logic, which is more prevalent in top sport than it should. For example: management teams in the USA turned down Giannis Antetokounmpo, a superstar NBA player, because they heard rumors that he was "soft" and that a stateless kid could not handle living "in a foreign country." Newcastle, like Milan, are run by people from the world of finance--at least I have to assume you are, because the tactics you've used all bear the hallmarks of finance negotiation.

 

It has filtered out that Newcastle's bid was below the 40m reported, and it seems that both Newcastle and Milan's bids are similar--it seems Newcastle's is a bit higher. Lille want more money, again, they tried to rope in Man Utd and Spurs, who are both in need of a CB, but they both denied their interest. Lille then tried to rope in PSG, which didn't really seem to stick.

 

We should all just sit back, relax, and realize that there's a good chance that Botman will not be that good, lol. I'm from the faction of Milan fans who are not crazy about him, it really is the fact that Maldini and Stam rate him that makes me shut my mouth and defer to them. I mean, when you have the superb Englishman Tomori, why would you want a Dutchman? Am I right? Lol. (Apologies to any Dutch fans here, just a joke, you know Milan's long love of Dutch players)

 

I hope you all are well.

[madras]

21 minutes ago, Milanista said:

Maldini doesn't participate in auctions. He offers what he thinks is reasonable, maybe he'll come back with bonuses, otherwise, he doesn't participate in the whole "for a few million more" game.

 

To be fair, I have laid out why I think he hasn't signed for Milan yet: Lille want more money. Milan won't offer more.

 

Milan is building its squad to challenge for the CL, Newcastle, with respect, is still building its foundations. They are at different stages of fundamental, from the bottom-to-the-top re-builds. Milan's rebuild started 3 years ago, Newcastle's started 6 months ago. I am not trying to disparage Newcastle.

 

Newcastle and Milan, unfortunately for Lille, seem to not only have similar transfer targets, but, they also have similar negotiation tactics, they're using Mergers and Acquisitions tactics, rather than sports fan logic, which is more prevalent in top sport than it should. For example: management teams in the USA turned down Giannis Antetokounmpo, a superstar NBA player, because they heard rumors that he was "soft" and that a stateless kid could not handle living "in a foreign country." Newcastle, like Milan, are run by people from the world of finance--at least I have to assume you are, because the tactics you've used all bear the hallmarks of finance negotiation.

 

It has filtered out that Newcastle's bid was below the 40m reported, and it seems that both Newcastle and Milan's bids are similar--it seems Newcastle's is a bit higher. Lille want more money, again, they tried to rope in Man Utd and Spurs, who are both in need of a CB, but they both denied their interest. Lille then tried to rope in PSG, which didn't really seem to stick.

 

We should all just sit back, relax, and realize that there's a good chance that Botman will not be that good, lol. I'm from the faction of Milan fans who are not crazy about him, it really is the fact that Maldini and Stam rate him that makes me shut my mouth and defer to them. I mean, when you have the superb Englishman Tomori, why would you want a Dutchman? Am I right? Lol. (Apologies to any Dutch fans here, just a joke, you know Milan's long love of Dutch players)

 

I hope you all are well.

The final paragraph sits well here. Many arent sure about him ( I think hes a little too fond of a push in the back.....Ive watched him in three games so I'm an expert )but we trust those at our clubs who seem to want him. 

[BennyBlanco]

7 hours ago, Milanista said:

Maldini doesn't participate in auctions. He offers what he thinks is reasonable, maybe he'll come back with bonuses, otherwise, he doesn't participate in the whole "for a few million more" game.

 

 
Top posts mate but I feel I have to pull you on this bit.

 

”auctions” though I disagree with the that terms use in this instance is literally Maldinis job for you guys. You can’t just slap a take it or leave it offer in front of a player just because there is multiple interest from other clubs. Also expecting players to choose Milan because of the stature of the club rather than the financial package involved smacks of arrogance rather than brinksmanship. 

[Jaqen]

'The Botman transfer saga' sounds like a shite Indie band I'd have seen during the uni days. 

[Guest HTT II]

This is a bit of a saga, reports say we have agreed a fee with the club, but his agent is wanting more, then some say the club are trying to cause a bidding war. I think it’s a straight choice for him at least between us and AC and that they can’t match our offer in terms of wages and transfer fee so the agent/player are hoping they can match that so he goes there and if not he will come to us. That’s my reading of the situation. He will have to make a choice sooner or later, having only seen YouTube clips of him, he doesn’t look anything special so I’m not fussed either way. I’d prefer Ake any day of the week!

[Cronky]

7 hours ago, Milanista said:

 

Newcastle and Milan, unfortunately for Lille, seem to not only have similar transfer targets, but, they also have similar negotiation tactics, they're using Mergers and Acquisitions tactics, rather than sports fan logic, which is more prevalent in top sport than it should. For example: management teams in the USA turned down Giannis Antetokounmpo, a superstar NBA player, because they heard rumors that he was "soft" and that a stateless kid could not handle living "in a foreign country." Newcastle, like Milan, are run by people from the world of finance--at least I have to assume you are, because the tactics you've used all bear the hallmarks of finance negotiation.

 

 

 

Thank you for an interesting post. 

 

The only part I'd really dispute is the idea that we are finance driven, rather than looking at building a cohesive and contented squad, if I've understood you correctly. All the indications are that Eddie Howe does a lot of research into a player's character, and building a happy dressing room is a big part of his thinking. I see no sign that Howe is not working in harmony with the people running the club.

 

We did spend a lot of money in January, but it was money well spent, and well targeted from the footballing point of view. We were ripped off for Chris Wood, but we badly needed a striker and the decision was correct. Otherwise, I think we had value for money. 

[Dr Jinx]

The flaw in your logic is that we know that PIF haven’t been directly involved in the running of the club yet, that’s been AS & Mehrdad and now that Ashworth is here he’s taking over those duties as well. The former pair although from the finance world, seem to be emotionally involved with the club and fans.

 

Now Ashworth doesn’t come across as being a passionate football fan like say Kevin Keegan was, but he’s not quite a finance person either.

 

Its fair to say that January the club had to pay over the odds for Chris Wood, but otherwise it’s been a fair price for incoming players and we’ve gotten value. They are not going to be ripped off this summer. The French and Spanish clubs will cop onto that fact eventually. 

[Nine]

4 minutes ago, Dr Jinx said:

 

Its fair to say that January the club had to pay over the odds for Chris Wood, but otherwise it’s been a fair price for incoming players and we’ve gotten value. They are not going to be ripped off this summer. The French and Spanish clubs will cop onto that fact eventually. 

To be fair the Spanish and French clubs will know the score already but it wont stop them trying their luck to squeeze a bit more of a fee out of us while its still so early in the window.

 

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by Nine

[Dr Jinx]

Just now, Nine said:

To be fair the Spanish and French will know that already but it wont stop them trying their to squeeze a bit more of a fee out of us while its still so early in the window.

I would say it’s better value to do it early than right before the transfer window closes.

 

For once it would be nice if all our business was done before pre season started. We have a few weeks.

[Nine]

Just now, Dr Jinx said:

I would say it’s better value to do it early than right before the transfer window closes.

 

For once it would be nice if all our business was done before pre season started. We have a few weeks.

Yeah I think it could be a double edged sword really, do it early and the seller will bump the price as theres still loads of time or do it late and the seller will bump the price as theres not much time. 

 

The longer Botman and Ekitike drag on IF we finally sign either of them I think it will just feel like relief to most fans rather than satisfaction, we'll see alot of wanting one more big one in. From the outside looking in it seems like it would make sense all round to just pay up a few million extra for Botman and get him early for the squads sake as well as the fans, get him integrated in the side early as possible.. just not sure the people in charge will see it that way.