Inter Milan are working hard to strengthen their hand this summer and now boss Simone Inzaghi has turned his attention to Lazio midfielder Sergej-Milinkovic Savic.
The 2021 Serie A champions never really threatened in last season’s title race and Inzaghi, despite leading his team to the Champions League final, is under pressure to push harder for the 2023/24 Scudetto.
I Nerazzurri have been working on a deal to bring Sassuolo midfielder Davide Frattesi to the San Siro, but the selling club are asking for more for their 23-year-old star than the €35 million Inter are willing to pay.
So Inzaghi has turned his interest to the Milinkovic-Savic.
Nicknamed “the Sergeant” by Lazio fans because of his powerful presence and supreme confidence, the 28-year-old Serb can play equally well in a holding midfield role or at the head of a diamond. And at 6’4”, he has a commanding presence which makes him a natural midfield general.
Inzaghi spent five years with Milinkovic-Savic when he was head coach of Lazio, and he is keen on a reunion. And now that the Serbian international is ready to leave the capital city, this could be the right time.
He has been linked with a move to Juventus, but if Adrien Rabiot stays with the Old Lady then Milinkovc-Savic, whose current deal expires in 2024, is less likely to move to Turin.
His wage demands are likely to be higher than Frattesi’s would have been, but Inter can get a cut price deal from Lazio with just 12 months to run on Milinkovic-Savic’s contract.
He will be a ready-made replacement for Inter legend Marcelo Brozovi,c who is nearing the exit door at the San Siro. The Croatian star has been tracked by Saudi club Al-Nassr, but he has recently emerged as a target for Barcelona, and there should be some movement in that story pretty soon.
It seems that Brozovic would favour a move to Catalonia, and his negotiating team is pushing the Blaugrana for a decision.
Zielinski to leave the Champions
The pre-season Serie A 2023 betting odds rate Inter Milan and Napoli as joint favourites to win the next Scudetto, but those odds may shift as the summer transfer market progresses.
Napoli are keen to keep hold of their top scorer Victor Osimhen, but another big star looks certain to be leaving Naples before long.
After six successful seasons with the club, Scudetto winner Piotr Zielinski is set to leave I Partenopei this summer, having refused to sign an extension to his contract which expires in 2024. He has been linked with a move to Juventus, but that seems to have gone quiet as the Old Lady looks to trim her own squad in the midfield department.
Last week, our SBOTOP picks for Lazio’s starting XI in 2023/24 predicted that Zielinski would rejoin his former boss Maurizio Sarri. He scored three goals and made nine assists last season, and these stats make him a good candidate to replace Milinkovic-Savic, as and when the Serb packs his bags.
Mourinho cops another ban
You can’t keep Jose Mourinho out of the Serie A 2023 news for long, and the Roma boss was in the headlines again on Thursday when he was given a 10-day ban from the Italian league to add to his four match suspension already handed to him by UEFA.
Following I Giallorossi’s Europa League Final defeat to Sevilla on 30th May, Mourinho launched into referee Anthony Taylor in his post match press conference and then later in the stadium car park, calling the English ref a disgrace.
The sad follow up was the sight of Taylor and his family being abused at the airport on their way out of Budapest, and UEFA hit Mourinho hard, banning him from the next four European matches.
Almost a month earlier, the former Inter Milan and Chelsea boss had a row with the referee after Roma’s match against Monza on 3rd May. He described the match official Daniele Chiffi as the worst referee he had aver seen presumably until he came across Taylor three weeks later.
And as a result, Mourinho has been hit by another sanction, this time by the national federal court of Italy’s football federation (FIGC). He has been hit with a 10-day suspension, which means the Roma boss will not be allowed to sit in the dugout or patrol the touchline, or indeed, enter the club’s dressing room on match days.
Now that he’s cooled down, Mourinho will take his medicine with his usual good humour, but I wouldn’t bet on him keeping calm the next time he feels cheated by the officials.
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