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What’s the rumour?
Real Madrid are interested in signing Sergej Milinkovic-Savic according to reports in Il Messaggero. The Italian newspaper claims that the initial offer is of €150 million (£132m) with another added bonus of €20 million.
The bid is substantially more than what Manchester United reportedly offered for the Serbian. The Red Devils were linked with a €100 million move for him by Calcio Mercato.
The report of Real Madrid wanting Milinkovic-Savic comes just days after the Marco Materazzi's brother said that he was set to be sold to Manchester United. "Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, in my opinion, has already been sold for big money to a team, Manchester United. They are also waiting to sell Pogba, to make room to bring in the Serbian officially," Materazzi's brother told reporters.
In case you didn’t know...
Milinković-Savić came through the youth academy of Vojvodina. He then moved to Genk for £900,000 in the summer of 2014. His performance in the 2014/15 season with the Belgian side was enough for Lazio to swoop in for him.
Genk made a huge profit when they sold him for £16.2 million to the Serie A side. The Servian has been brilliant for Lazio ever since and his current contract runs until the summer of 2022.
The heart of the matter
In February, Lazio's owner and president, Claudio Lotito said, "I turned down 70m euros [bid] for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic,".
He said that had turned down the huge bid as they want well over €100 million for the Serbian. Apart from Manchester United and Real Madrid, Juventus were also linked with a move for the midfielder.
Rumour probability: 7/10
Reports in Il Messaggero claim that Madrid have offered the 23-year-old a 5-year contract worth €6 million a season. He is a Real Madrid fan from childhood and that was confirmed by him in his recent interview with FIFA.com.
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What’s next?
Lazio are likely to accept this bid as no other side are possibly going to outbid Madrid. €170 million for a player they invested £16.2m million is almost a 10x profit.
