As the heatwave spreads throughout the United Kingdom on this fine Thursday, there are countless things we would rather be doing than bringing you another Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to Manchester United update.
Jumping in a nice cool pool. Lying on a beach with a drink that has a little parasol in it. Stepping on an upturned plug.
However, it’s our job, nay, our duty to do this (it’s partly why you follow us), and we can all take some solace in the fact there’s only two weeks or so left of the transfer window and it will soon be over.
After yesterday’s comprehensive round up of the saga, Thursday is a bit calmer, with Gazzetta dello Sport the only ones really pushing an imminent departure for the Serbian (but only if Paul Pogba goes).
The big update is that his agent, Mateja Kezman, is reportedly in Manchester to ‘define the last details’ for his client’s transfer.
They also suggest that Simone Inzaghi’s decision to leave Milinkovic-Savic on the bench for the first-half of his side’s 5-0 friendly win over Entella is a hint the player’s future is ‘further and further away’ from Lazio.
There’s a few new details about the fee Manchester United are prepared to pay too, with the bonuses growing by the day (it was €75m + €5m on Wednesday).
Gazzetta now believe it’s €75m + €15m (which is the fee that was first reported by other outlets), with the €15m split between the already stated ‘easily attainable’ €5m and another €10m, described as ‘less secure’.
That takes the fee up to €90m, which is much closer to Claudio Lotito’s valuation.
In fact, the mention of Lazio’s president gives us an easy transition into Corriere dello Sport’s take on the matter.
It’s said Lotito is ’trembling’ while waiting for news from Manchester United, especially since (so they claim) the Red Devils are ‘on the verge of signing Bruno Fernandes’.
We know that’s not exactly true, because otherwise the Portuguese press would have imploded in excitement, yet that’s the line being fed to the Lazio fans over in Italy.
For the fee, Corriere explain the deal, overall, will reach €100m, with €90m of that being for the player while the other €10m are Mateja Kezman’s commission.
They mention a possible involvement of Jorge Mendes, but they make it clear they haven’t been able to confirm that, even if it’s no secret the Portuguese agent has ties to both clubs.
Either way, nothing is expected to happen until Paul Pogba is sold.
It’s all very unlikely, but never say never in football. We’ve seen crazier things happen.
