Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic has priced himself out of a move to AC Milan, with the reported Tottenham and West Ham United target facing an uncertain future in Serie A, according to Tuttomercatoweb.
As the arrivals of Sandro Tonali, Jens Pette Hauge, Alexis Saelemaekers and Rafael Leao will tell you, Rossoneri appear to have taken inspiration from Borussia Dortmund’s transfer policy.
As director Ivan Gazidis explained, a Milan side once chock-full of battle-scarred veterans are now focusing almost solely on talented youngsters with world-class potential.
So it should be no surprise that, with the Serie A leaders targeting a new defender as Mateo Musacchio enters the final few months of his contract, each of the four players on their January hit-list are aged 23 or younger.
Milenkovic is the oldest of the quartet and, according to TMW, also the most expensive.
Fiorentina allegedly want £35 million, while the so-called ‘new Nemanja Vidic’ is demanding a £45,000-a-week contract.
That is seemingly too expensive for Milan, who have placed Milenkovic to the back of the queue behind Mohamed Simakan, Matteo Lavato and Liverpool-linked Ozan Kabak.
It remains to be seen whether Tottenham, who have been linked via Calciomercato, are willing to meet Milenkovic’s demands.
West Ham made a £20 million offer before the October deadline and could return in 2021, with Watford loanee Craig Dawson very much a short-term solution at centre-half (Mail).
Milenkovic is due to become a free agent in 2022 and, speaking to Sempre Inter, director Daniele Prade made Fiorentina’s stance very clear.
“We will try to renew Milenkovic’s contract and, if he doesn’t accept, we will sell him next year,” he said.
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