Former club director reveals why Man Utd failed with €100m bid for star midfielder
Former Lazio sporting director Igli Tare has claimed the club turned down transfer offers worth over €100m from Manchester United and AC Milan for midfield star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
The Serbia international was frequently linked with the top clubs in world football during his time at Stadio Olimpico but instead joined the raft of stars in the Saudi Pro League last summer when he signed for Al Hilal.
Milinkovic-Savic was often touted as a replacement for Paul Pogba due to his all-action style and penchant for scoring from distance, but Tare revealed his exit was never sanctioned for sporting reasons.
He said: „Many untrue things have been said about Milinkovic-Savic, from his farewell on a free transfer to the fact that he didn’t want to stay.
„The only true thing is that [Claudio] Lotito rejected a very important offer, worth over €100m, from Milan and Manchester United.“
„I don’t want to say too much about the lack of sales, even if there was a question of budgets, but Lotito’s choices were to maintain a strong team and respect the promises made to the coach. Let’s not forget that in the year of Covid, Lazio was about to win the Scudetto.“
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28-year-old Milinkovic-Savic only managed to play one season of Champions League football with Lazio before signing for Al Hilal, where he has shown his goalscoring prowess from midfield. He has eight strikes so far with his side top of the Saudi Pro League, seven points ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr.
Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat have been signed to bolster Man Utd’s midfield in recent years, while youngster Kobbie Mainoo impressed in pre-season and has since enjoyed greater involvement with the first-team.
Lazio, meanwhile, are seventh in Serie A, three points behind the top four, and were recently beaten 3-0 by Inter in the Supercoppa Italiana final.