Lazio president Claudio Lotito has warned Manchester United it would take a bid of more than €50m (£42.3m) to land Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. Manchester United
The Serbian midfielder was linked with an Old Trafford switch back in 2018, but United found themselves priced out of a move. Now 27, the former Genk man is still playing in Rome and has racked up more than 200 Serie A appearances.
United's reported interest comes amid uncertainty over their pursuit of Frenkie de Jong, with Adrien Rabiot another option as a midfield recruit. However, it is clear Milinkovic-Savic won't come cheap if he is to make the move to Manchester, while other clubs including Arsenal and Newcastle United have been mentioned in connection with a bid.
"Milinkovic for €50 million? At that amount, I don’t sell him, he is worth much more," Lotito told Il Messagero (via Metro ). "Our market is thus complete and finished.
"Also, because Luis Alberto will also remain. I quickly kept all the promises I had made. All the reinforcements [manager Maurizio] Sarri wanted on the sheet have been taken."
Lazio have strengthened their midfield this summer, with Matias Vecino joining on a free transfer after leaving Inter Milan. However, after seeing veteran Lucas Leiva return to boyhood club Gremio, they are in no mood to let another midfielder leave the Stadio Olimpico without receiving serious money in return.
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Ahead of Man Utd's trip to Brentford, Ten Hag rejected suggestions the transfer window had been a disaster. The new manager has added just three players so far - Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez - but still has more than two weeks to make further additions.
"It would be my preference to have players in earlier because we could be starting the process earlier," the Dutchman admitted. "That’s quite clear, but at the end of the day the season is long and you have to get in the right players.
"It’s really complicated, but I think we are really happy with what we have done until now. We cannot live with low standards because then we will not get back where we have to be.
"I'm happy, I think we're cooperating really well. I cannot tell about any individuals, I cannot talk about players under contract at other clubs."
Man Utd's football director John Murtough has already made efforts to wrap up a deal for Rabiot, travelling to Turin for further talks. However, after he returned home with no transfer agreed, there has been further discussion of other potential targets, with Milinkovic-Savic among them.
