Reports: Manchester United to make €79 million bid for midfielder in January

What's the story?

Manchester United have found themselves increasingly dependent on the presence of Paul Pogba to help with their quick-as-lightning transitions from defence to attack, with the midfielders easy athleticism and sheer skill on the ball proving to be fundamental to the Jose Mourinho gameplan.

This has had the effect of making United's rhythm totally reliant on one man, and no club with ambitions of challenging on multiple fronts can do so without having a good, solid, plan B. (Marouane Fellaini and the aerial bombardment that accompanies him is still good enough only for plan C)

Plan B, apparently, has been identified now, if the good folk over at Calciomercato are to be believed... in the shape of a £70 million (€79 million) rated box-to-box midfielder who is in his own good enough to be plan A. Lazio's Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has been in tremendous form in the recent past, and Manchester United have fixed their eye on him - considering United's coffers are pretty decently stocked, Lazio's asking price shouldn't be a problem.

In case you didn't know...

Lazio director of sport Igli Tare had recently revealed that the Serie A side rejected a €70 million bid for their star last summer, and considering just how well the Serbian is playing for the high-flying Roman side, he won't be coming for a penny under what Lazio want for him.

Signed for a trifling (in hindsight) sum of €15 million from Genk by Lazio, Milinkovic-Savic's rise has been phenomenal - this season he already has 6 goals and 3 assists in 19 games

In fact, in August the club paid an additional €9 million to Genk to cancel out the clause in their contract that stated the Belgians would be entitled to 50% of the Serb's future sell-on fee.

The heart of the matter

Manchester United need options in midfield with Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic and even Michael Carrick not the kind of player that can do the kind of things that Paul Pogba can do - the Frenchman's passing, running, and sheer vision is unparalleled in the squad and the addition of a like-minded figure like Milinkovic-Savic would certainly help United become a better team.

Video

For those who haven't seen the young Serb in action -

Lad can play, eh?

Author's Take

With Manchester United craving options, they can't really go wrong with a 22-year-old marauding box-to-box midfielder with a skillset eerily similar to Paul Pogba... the only question is how ambitious are Lazio? Enough to keep the Serb tied down in Rome with a bumper contract?