Lazio have confirmed Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is not for sale following fresh transfer links to Manchester United.
It was announced Erik ten Hag had been appointed as United's newest manager last month and the Dutchman will be tasked with an unprecedented rebuild when he arrives in Manchester. There are multiple incomings and outgoings expected this summer.
The Manchester Evening News understands signing a defensive midfielder is United's priority in the upcoming transfer window and Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips have admirers at Old Trafford. However, any deal for either England international would not be straight forward and United might be forced to look elsewhere.
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Ten Hag will also have the power to veto any transfer targets.
United have been regularly linked with defensive midfielder Milinkovic-Savic over the years and those reports have intensified again. However, Lazio president, Claudio Lotito, has now squashed those links by outlining that the player isn't for sale this summer.
“Milinkovic is not for sale,” Lotito told Rai Sport in Italy.
“I turned down a €140m (£120m) bid for him [years ago]. I'd ask Sergej what he wants to do only in case we receive an important proposal from a world-class club.”
The summer transfer window opens on 10 June 2022.
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