5 players who will use the World Cup to announce themselves to the world

Modified Dec 31, 2017 05:15 GMT

#2 Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia)

Not many watch the Serie A, where 22-year-old Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is having a breakthrough season and is linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs. Manchester United and Inter are among the clubs linked with a €100 million move for the youngster, who has not even been a first-team regular with Lazio for 18 months.

Nevertheless, his star has risen rapidly. In his debut campaign, he got four goals and nine assists in 34 outings and already this season he has five league strikes plus a further assist.

He is considered to be a complete midfielder, boasting skill but also the physique to thrive in the modern game. That is reflected in his defensive statistics; he has taken part and won more duels than any other midfielder in Serie A this season, while he is also towards the top of the charts in terms of aerial battles won.

Such performances have seen him heralded as one of the league’s top midfielders, as he has been at the vanguard of Lazio’s return to prominence in Serie A.

So impressed was Mateja Kezman, his agent, that he needed only to watch him for 10 minutes of him training with Vojvodina’s youth team before signing him up for his agency.

No Serie A fan will be surprised to see him thrive in Russia, but his performances are set to be eye-opening for those unfortunate enough not to have seen him yet.

Edited by Amit Mishra