With just three days to go before they kick off the new Serie A season against Jose Mourinho’s Roma, Dusan Vlahovic and Nikola Milenkovic are still Fiorentina players.
Hands up who saw that coming as La Viola limped to a 13th place finish in 2020/21?
Vlahovic, the most exciting young striker on the continent not called Erling Haaland, has been linked with every European giant worth their salt after scoring 21 goals during a fabulous breakthrough season.
Milenkovic, meanwhile, spent most of the past 12 months refusing to extend his stay at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. And with the giant centre-back set to become a free agent in 2022, it seemed only a matter of time before Fiorentina accepted a bid for a man who held talks with West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Tuttomercatoweb reported Milenkovic was keen on a move to Tottenham.
West Ham, meanwhile, made a £13.5 million offer just last week as talks between the player and club stepped up a gear.
That was until a spanner was thrown in the works.
According to Firenze Viola, West Ham called off a transfer they had been working on since September 2020 because of commission Milenkovic’s agent Fali Ramadani wanted for his part in the deal.
Where next for Spurs and West Ham?
24 hours later, Milenkovic was performing the biggest U-turn in football since Fabian Delph decided he actually liked the idea of wearing the sky blue of Manchester City.
The coveted centre-back finally put pen to paper on a new deal today.
“We are delighted he has chosen to move forward with Fiorentina and we hope the coming years will be highly successful for all parties,” reads a statement on the club’s official website.
With his new deal running until 2023, Milenkovic will probably find himself in the same position this time next year, facing an uncertain future as he closes in on free agency.
But that doesn’t do Tottenham or West Ham much good. They need a defender – and they need one now.
Here’s what some fans from both London clubs had to say on Twitter about the situation:
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