Lazio chief wants record price to let Sergej leave
LAZIO president Claudio Lotito has suggested the club is open to selling Sergej MilinkovicSavic, but only if they receive a world record fee for a midfielder.
The M.E.N. reported in May United had discounted Milinkovic-Savic as a possible second midfield addition since he was too expensive.
The 23-year-old Serbia international has been heavily linked with Juventus in recent months but remains a Lazio player ahead of next week’s Serie A transfer deadline.
The Reds ended their pursuit of another midfielder after Marouane Fellaini signed a new contract with just days left on his previous deal. Amid speculation that Paul Pogba is intent on leaving United, Lotito has reiterated Milinkovic-Savic’s worth in the current market.
“Sergej is the best young midfielder in the world and he has a great margin for improvement,” Lotito told Corriere della Sera. “However, so far, no one has come forward.
“I haven’t received any offers from Milan or Juventus, let alone from Real Madrid and Manchester United. I certainly won’t push to sell him, but if you ask me how much he is worth, then I need to remind you that last year I turned down €110m.
“How much was Pogba sold for to Man United? Then Milinkovic-Savic is worth even more, because he’s much better. Now rest assured, I’m not interested in loan formulas or technical counterparts.”
Pogba joined United in an £89m (€105m) deal in 2016 and players’ valuations have inflated in the wake of Neymar’s world record £198m switch to Paris Saint-Germain last year. MINO Raiola is such a shrewd dealer he had already thought about moving Paul Pogba to Spain while he was finalising his transfer to United.
Two years ago, Pogba originally had his heart set on Real Madrid but as soon as Raiola advised his client to rejoin United, the Frenchman acquiesced.
There was a proviso, though: Raiola urged Pogba to spend ‘three years at United, then Madrid.’ The dispatch added Pogba is ‘impatient [and] wants it sooner than that.’ And here we are, with Raiola agitating two years into Pogba’s second three-year spell in Manchester, only Madrid have been replaced by Barcelona.
These are the hazards when you become reliant on an agent who doubles as a father figure for his players. Raiola has taken four of them to United over the last two years and kept his powder dry as Jose Mourinho accused Henrikh Mkhitaryan of anonymity, discounted Zlatan Ibrahimovic and declined to disclose Pogba’s illness at Newcastle.
Pogba’s downfall at United coincided with Raiola stablemate Mkhitaryan being reduced to a bargaining chip. Mourinho claimed reports surrounding his relationship with Pogba were ‘lies’ back in February, but Raiola’s latest machinations may reignite the tension between manager and midfielder.
Raiola, who shares the same Christian name as the comic gangster Carmine Falcone and resides in the Miami home which once housed Al Capone, is starting to return fire.
It was prompted exactly three weeks ago in the UCLA’s trophyladen JD Morgan Center that the first United tour press conference ended on the topic of Pogba: “What can the World Cup do for Pogba as a club player?”
“To win the World Cup can only be a positive thing,” Mourinho replied. “It’s amazing. It’s fantastic. For Paul it’s the first World Cup he goes [it was the second] and to be world champion can only be fantastic.” Then a pause.
“And I hope that he understands why he was very good, I think that’s the point about his performance level and contribution to a winning team, is to understand why he was so good, especially in the second part of the competition, quarterfinal, semi-final, final, where in my opinion he was absolutely brilliant.” When Pogba was brought up in the same auditorium the next week, Mourinho responded wearily. “I told already,” he mustered. Mourinho’s analysis of Pogba’s World Cup and the suggestion his focus was reinforced by a mere month-long tournament had credence. Pogba admitted he deliberately avoided any hair-dye so critics would focus on his football and he needs to show that consistent class over nine months with United if he is not to leave a failure. If he is precious about that then he needs to thicken his skin. It was also at that press conference that Mourinho grouped Pogba with the ‘physical’ United midfielders whereas Fred and Andreas Pereira were the ‘more technical’ Samuel Luckhurst