Man Utd ‘hijack’ AC Milan deal for £25m Lille star after Ten Hag, Murtough transfer summit

Manchester United will attempt to hijack AC Milan’s move for Sven Botman after Erik ten Hag held a transfer summit to discuss summer targets.

Botman has been in fine form for the Ligue 1 side this season, earning admiring glances from a number of European clubs.

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Newcastle were heavily linked with move for the 22-year-old in January and remain interested, and Milan are thought to be in advanced talks with the player, his representatives and the club in a deal worth around £25m.

But now, a United source has told Football Insider that the Red Devils are ‘exploring a move for Botman’.

Ten Hag is said to have ‘held a transfer summit’ with director of football John Murtough and assistant coaches Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren in Amsterdam last week to discuss potential transfer targets.

Botman was reportedly one player brought up in those talks and ‘it ws agreed that preliminary talks would take place’.

The Dutchman is ‘among a number of defenders being monitored ahead of the summer’ as Ten Hag looks to bolster his options, and the former Ajax boss is ‘understood to be an admirer of the left-sided centre-back.

Botman – who came through the ranks at Ajax before joining Lille in the summer of 2020 – is under contract at Lille until 2025 and excelled for the Ligue 1 club as they won the title last season, also impressing in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Rio Ferdinand says he has sympathy with Jesse Lingard as he was “p*ssed off” at the way his farewell from Old Trafford was handled.

Ferdinand said: “I think United are one of the worst at doing it. You see clubs abroad when players who have given big chunks of their