SERIE A Boss announces he accepts that his best £40m midfielder will join Arsenal next season
Arsenal are reportedly looking to make a summer transfer move for Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
The north London club were linked with a move for the Serbian, who is set to enter the final year of his contract in the summer, back in the previous January transfer window but didn’t end up signing him.
Now that the next transfer window is on the way, some behind-the-scenes details have emerged regarding the 28-year-old and what the summer could hold for him.
According to a recent report from Italian media outlet Calciomercato, Lazio are expecting Milinkovic-Savic to leave the club this summer and bring in a hefty transfer fee by doing so. He was valued at £105 million back in January.
The report also names Arsenal are likely to make a move for the midfielder in the summer having already apparently made an offer of €40m (£35m) to the player’s agent Mateja Kezman.
And, Arteta is keen to add a player of such quality to the squad this summer.
Having joined Lazio back in the 2015 summer transfer window from KRC Genk, the midfielder has gone on to make 324 appearances for the Italian club across all competitions, scoring 64 goals and providing 59 assists in the process.
This season has seen Milinkovic-Savic find the net four times and supply eight assists in 21 Serie A appearances.
In addition to that, he has the third-highest total of goal-creating actions (11) to his name in the division this term, showing how effective he can be in terms of setting up goalscoring opportunities for his side.
His overall efforts in the league have earned him a season rating of 7.33/10 from WhoScored, making him the fourth-highest rated player in the division.
Described by his father as a “mix of [Zinedine] Zidane and [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic”, as well as “an explosive combination of extraordinary technique and physicality”, the Lazio star would certainly offer Mikel Arteta an extra bit of quality and depth to his midfield based on what he’s shown in Italy this season.
Moving forward, if the door to sign Milinkovic-Savic does open this summer, the Gunners should definitely consider paying the money that Lazio would want to pick up for their star midfielder.
