Man Utd see De Jong alternative's asking price halved

12 Oct 2022 08:37 BST
7 min read

Erik ten Hag, Manchester United, 2022/23 — © ProShots

Manchester United spent the summer chasing Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong only to fail to land him.

With the January transfer window around the corner, Man Utd are once again being tipped to go back into the market to land a midfielder, and the Netherlands star is starting to be linked with Erik ten Hag’s side once more.

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Alternatives, though, are in the pipeline. Among these is Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who is a player linked with the Red Devils on an apparently twice annual basis in recent years.

Milinkovic-Savic has been a player who has been teetering on the brink of making it to the big time without ever quite making it to the top. The likes of Man Utd, Chelsea and PSG have been regularly associated with him but no deal has ever been done.

In part, this is because Lazio have demanded top dollar for the 27-year-old, who carries a substantial goal threat from the centre of the field. Indeed, the Rome club had previously slapped a €100 million asking price on the player, making him untouchable.

Milinkovic Savic vs Serie A midfielders 2022/23

Milinkovic-Savic to Man Utd latest

With 18 months remaining on his contract at Lazio, though, Milikovic-Savic’s price tag has been slashed in half, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

At €50m, the Serbia midfield begins to look a more attractive prospect, though even at that price he is above FootballTransfers’ valuation of him, which is €35m with an upper estimate of €43m.

Milinkovic-Savic has at least seven league goals in four of the last five seasons, but with a relatively short time left on his contract and now starting to get past his peak age, his value is starting to waver.

It would be surprising to see Man Utd make a move for him at this juncture. The Lazio player may have long been associated with them, but that was before the arrival of Erik ten Hag, who appears to have prioritised a technical midfielder like De Jong as opposed to the more box-to-box presence of Milinkovic-Savic.

There could be a knock-on effect, though. With Milinkovic-Savic’s price having fallen, he becomes comparatively more attractive to De Jong. If Barcelona want to sell the Dutchman to Man Utd, then, they may need to allow his price to drop slightly, too.