Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic hits Tottenham radar to leave top star sweating over future

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Luis Alberto

Tottenham have reportedly joined the clamour to sign Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic this summer, which could be bad news for one Spurs star.

The Serbian has long been linked with a move to the Premier League, with Manchester United having chased the player for some time. However, it appears that Antonio Conte is also a big fan and wants the 27-year-old in north London.

That’s according to Italian media outlet Noi Biancocelesti (via Sport Witness) anyway, who claim Conte would love to bring the Lazio star to England. Indeed, the Italian is known to have been impressed with the box-to-box midfielder whenever he watched him first hand during his spell as Inter Milan boss.

The report does add that European heavyweights Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern Munich, Juventus and United are also keen, which could make any transfer a difficult one – especially with the Red Devils already said to have submitted a £68million offer.

As for Lazio’s stance on the player, club president Claudio Lotito is willing to listen to all offers. Indeed, he hopes that something of a bidding war ensues to drive up the player’s price.

Milinkovic-Savic has been an outstanding performer for Lazio ever since his €9m (£7.5m) move in 2015.  However, this season he has taken his game to another level, scoring 10 times and adding 11 assists.

The creative midfielder has also created 10 big chances for teammates and averages 2.0 shots per game.

Bad news for Hojbjerg

He is being tipped as a major upgrade to Conte’s midfield. But his arrival could be bad news for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

The defensive midfielder has formed a strong partnership with Rodrigo Bentancur at the heart of the Tottenham midfield. However, he is limited in his skillset and Conte feels he needs more from the middle of the park.

Milinkovic-Savic is more likely to partner Bentancur if he does arrive, given Conte’s admiration for the former Juventus man.

Lazio man can transform Tottenham midfield

There is no doubting that Sergej Milinkovic-Savic would transform a Tottenham midfield that can be a little one-paced and one-dimensional.

His quality on the ball is outstanding and his combined 21 goal contributions far outweighs anything else from the Spurs midfield this campaign.

Although pricey at £68m, the fact that he’s still only 27 means Daniel Levy landing a player at his peak.

But therein lies the problem. Levy rarely spends big money on players in their prime and prefers resaleable assets instead.

Tottenham must also hope that there is not an auction, as that will only dissuade Levy from bidding.

In fact, their best hope of landing the player is securing Champions League football. That way Conte could then convince him that a move to London is the right one.

READ MORE: Tottenham scout defender in Champions League semi as Conte plots to replace consistent star