Happy Saturday Manchester United supporters! There are just 12 more shopping days left until the summer transfer window deadline passes. And that means we have just 15 more days until the Premier League opener at home versus Chelsea.
There is nothing new at all to report in the pursuit of Bruno Fernandes or Harry Maguire, and the Paul Pogba transfer saga continues to drag out, but there are plenty of other things going on, in terms of news relating to the club, so let’s dive right in.
We start with a long time transfer target, one who has been strongly linked with the club for awhile– Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. According to Football Italia, a deal is finally coming very close to fruition, but there is still some bartering being done and the sale price would be “€75m plus €15m bonuses and €10m commission.”
The website sites Corriere dello Sport newspaper, who write that “a deal is practically done for the Serbia international midfielder and his agent Mateja Kezman was in London for advanced negotiations yesterday.
The transfer fee is €75m with another €15m in various bonuses, plus €10m commission for Kezman, taking the total cost to €100m – the Lazio asking price.”
If the Milinkovic-Savic transfer does happen, perhaps SMS will be United’s Pogba replacement, should the Frenchman get his £180 million move to Real Madrid.
Elsewhere, what’s the latest with yet another incomplete transfer saga, Romelu Lukaku and Inter Milan? Well, as we’re still a long ways off from closure, here comes another plot twist.
With both sides being reportedly so far apart on the transfer fee, now another Italian club, Juventus, are reportedly jumping into the fray by offering a swap deal for Paulo Dybala. This development is being reported by multiple outlets. It’s a transfer that might make more sense for United than Juve, so you would have to think Ed Woodward would take it, if it’s real.
It’s worth noting in this all Italy version of Manchester United transfer talk that the Serie A transfer window is open 15 days longer than the Premier League’s deadline day.
So while United have until Aug. 8 to sign Milinkovic from Lazio, Inter or Juve have until Aug. 23 to sell Lukaku to Inter.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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