For what seems like the tenth consecutive summer, Manchester United are being linked with a move for Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
With their pursuit of Barcelona‘s Frenkie de Jong – the player wanted by new manager Erik ten Hag above all others this summer – seemingly stalling, the Old Trafford club have been forced to look at alternatives.
Reports in Spain suggest that De Jong would only leave Barcelona for United’s Premier League rivals Chelsea.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is reportedly once again on Manchester United’s radar as they seek to fill a gaping void in midfield ahead of the new season
Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong is United’s first choice but is reluctant to come to Old Trafford and reportedly would rather sign for Chelsea in the Premier League
New United manager Erik ten Hag made clear he wanted De Jong as his No 1 priority signing
United and Barcelona agreed a transfer fee of £71.5million for De Jong, a player Ten Hag considers fundamental to the style of football he wants to play.
But the Holland international is reluctant to swap Barcelona for Manchester despite his current club’s urgency to offload him and ease their financial crisis.
Reports suggest he has concerns about the way United are run and would only have eyes for Chelsea if he came to England.
They say all roads lead to Rome and, as a result, United could well be about to return for Milinkovic-Savic, the 27-year-old box-to-box midfielder who Lazio are requesting almost £60m for.
And as Ten Hag seeks to solve a midfield muddle that proved beyond at least three of his predecessors, Milinkovic-Savic could well prove an excellent alternative to De Jong.
The stats from the last three seasons – the time De Jong has been playing in a top European league with Barcelona after joining from Ajax – show the Serbian has the edge in several key departments.
How Frenkie de Jong and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic compare over the last three seasons
De Jong went on Barcelona’s pre-season tour to the United States and is eager to stay
In all competitions, the pair have played roughly the same number of games (De Jong 140; Milinkovic-Savic 131) and the numbers make for interesting reading.
Milinkovic-Savic most definitely has the edge when it comes to pushing forward. He has scored 27 times to De Jong’s 13, has fired off substantially more shots and provided more assists (27 to 15).
In terms of chance creation, Milinkovic-Savic has set up 171 compared to De…