Fiorentina are confident of tying Nikola Milenkovic down to a new contract after rejecting a £20 million offer from Premier League high-flyers West Ham United, according to Calciomercato.
Earlier this week, La Viola director Daniele Prade gave the Hammers’ renewed hope of ending their lengthy centre-back search with a Serbian international labelled ‘the new Nemanja Vidic’.
Speaking to SempreInter, Prade admitted that Milenkovic would be sold next year unless he puts pen to paper on a new long-term deal at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
The 22-year-old will have just 12 months left on his contract by the time next summer arrives and, understandably, Fiorentina would rather cash in rather than risk losing one of their prized assets on the cheap.
Beppe Iachini’s side did, however, reject a £20 million bid from West Ham in the final few days of the transfer window (the Mail).
According to reports coming out of Italy, there is a growing confidence that Milenkovic will be wearing that iconic purple shirt for the foreseeable future.
Fiorentina will hold talks with the defender’s agent, Fali Ramadani, in the near future and expect an agreement to be reached.
West Ham have already missed out on James Tarkowski, Wesley Fofana, Jonathan Tah, Unai Nunez and more this year.
And, unless Milenkovic rejects Fiorentina’s advances, he will not be arriving at the London Stadium either.
West Ham’s record transfers
- Sebastien Haller
£45 million
- Felipe Anderson
£41.5 million
- Marko Arnautovic
£25 million
- Pablo Fornals
£24 million
- Issa Diop
£22 million
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