Spurs eye Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in blockbuster deal; but signing him would be big error

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Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

According to a report in the Mirror, Tottenham Hotspur are said to be eyeing Lazio duo Ciro Immobile and attacking midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in a blockbuster £100 million deal.

The recent 2-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United meant that Spurs will finish the campaign trophy-less for the 10th season in succession and the disappointment has seemingly set in motion a shake-up.

Spurs are said to be looking at selling several fringe players such as Victor Wanyama, Moussa Sissoko and Danny Rose while top centre-back Toby Alderweireld has also been tipped to leave.

Mauricio Pochettino has done a wonderful job in establishing Spurs as a top club, but to close the gap on the Manchester duo they need to have more strength in depth and players to really push the current first-teamers.

Manchester United, during their victory over Spurs at Wembley, had the luxury of players such as Juan Mata, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford on the bench while Pochettino was limited in game-changing options.

With the impending move to the new White Hart Lane, extra funds should be available for Spurs to strengthen and it’s little wonder why they are looking at a free-scoring Lazio side for potential attacking recruitments.

But as shown by the table provided by Opta, spending so much money on Milinkovic-Savic wouldn’t be a smart move as the 23-year-old is shown to be a slightly inferior player to England international Dele Alli.

The Serb has plenty of potential to improve, but he’s predominantly a central attacking midfielder and should he arrive at White Hart Lane he is only likely to disrupt the development of arguably a younger, better player.

Alli may not have hit the same heights of last season, but the 22-year-old still has eight goals and 10 assists to his name, while he averages more key passes and free-kicks won per game than Milinkovic-Savic.

Some could argue the Lazio man may perform better in a better team, but the same could be said of any Spurs player should they join a Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester City as has been proven on occasions.

Spending the bulk of their budget on a player who isn’t any better than a current Tottenham first-teamer is counterproductive – the Premier League club can only close the gap by ultimately improving their best XI.