Manchester United are facing stiff competition from Paris Saint-Germain in their bid to land £87m-rated Lazio ace Sergej Milinković-Savić.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men have long-been linked with a move for the Serbian, who is enjoying another excellent campaign for the Serie A side - with five goals in 30 league outings thus far.
Essentially, what's happening is that United are trying to find a Paul Pogba replacement. Granted, some may say it's a bit early, but the writing is on the wall, and even the most optimistic supporters now cut forlorn figures with their desperate cries for the Frenchman to stay.
He won't, end of. Which is why the club are making inroads in their efforts to nail down someone to fill his boots. Not that his boots are filled at the moment anyway, he hasn't put them on in 601 days.
Long-term target Milinković-Savić is (one of) the men on their radar, but as Gazzetta dello Sport reveal, PSG are lining up the midfielder themselves.
25-year-old Milinković-Savić is contracted to the Serie A title chasers until 2024, so any club wanting to land his signature will have to fork out the €100m (£87m) asking price that Lazio have slapped on his head.
PSG director Leonardo is a big fan of the Serb, having tried to secure his signature during his time at AC Milan, a coup that failed to come off since the Rossoneri's financial struggles cut those dreams short at the pre-production stage.
He and his PSG side are back in for him, though, along with Juventus, Chelsea and Real Madrid. All the usual suspects, really.
Lazio are battling for the Serie A title this season, sitting atop the league (at the time of writing), but the club's president, Claudio Lotito, has previously said that selling their prized asset could be a possibility, if the offer is right.
Lotito said, via the Mirror: "Milinković has a good rapport with the club, just as the club has with him. If some offers were to be presented, we’d evaluate them with a spirit of collaboration that looks after the interests of the club and the player. We’ll make the decisions that are best for everyone."
Both United and PSG possess the financial muscle required to pull off such a transfer, which will make for an interesting summer when there is a European clamour to secure Milinković-Savić's prized signature. Expect plenty of conflicting reports to emerge over the coming months.
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90min
