Buckle in, Manchester United fans.
Another summer transfer window is upon us, and you can guarantee that your team will be linked with pretty much every possible name under the sun.
It’s already been an interesting week, with reports claiming Jose Mourinho is considering a move for West Ham’s Marko Arnautovic in the weeks ahead. He was even pictured in Innsbruck in midweek to watch him – and a couple of others – as Austria hosted Russia in a friendly.
This isn’t the first time in the last few months that Mourinho turned up on a scouting trip in Austria. Recently we told you the story of how Mourinho was left frustrated when he attended the country’s World Cup qualifier at home to Serbia in Vienna last autumn.
The story goes that the United boss had intended to watch Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, only to discover that the midfielder wasn’t part of his country’s senior squad – something that is believed to have contributed to Slavoljub Muslin losing his job as Serbia’s manager.
Milinkovic (as he’s commonly known in Italy), has already been linked with a move to United a couple of times this year. Now, the Manchester Evening News have picked up on a report by Il Bianconero which suggests the 20-time English champions have already made an opening bid for the player.
The bid is said to have been an eye-watering €91million (£80m) and includes a 10% sell-on clause. Despite this, the Rome-based club have knocked it back.
This isn’t the first time Lazio are said to have turned down a big money offer for Milinkovic. Claudio Lotito, their owner, claimed to have rejected a £61.7m bid for him last summer from an unnamed club.
If he does end up at Old Trafford, Milinkovic-Savic will hope his time there pans out better than it did for his brother, Vanja. Now a goalkeeper for Torino, the 21-year-old signed for United in 2014. However, after failing to obtain a work permit, he left for Lechia Gdansk without making a single appearance.
