Former Lazio sporting director claims Manchester United had €100m transfer bid rejected

Lazio's former sporting director has claimed that Manchester United made a bid to sign Sergej Milinkovic-Savic for €100 million. The Serbian midfielder eventually left Lazio to join Saudi club Al-Hilal last summer after years of speculation surrounding his future at the Serie A side.

United were one of the clubs continuously linked with a move for Milinkovic-Savic, who was tipped to be a potential successor to Paul Pogba at Old Trafford.

Most of the reports stem from Jose Mourinho's time at the club, but he was also loosely linked with a move to United during both summers under Erik ten Hag before moving to Saudi Arabia.

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However, former Lazio sporting director Igli Tare insists the interest was genuine and even claims both United and AC Milan made bids worth €100million for the midfielder.

"Many untrue things have been said about Milinkovic-Savic, from his farewell on a free transfer to the fact that he didn’t want to stay," he told tuttomercatoweb. "The only true thing is that Lotito rejected a very important offer, worth over 100 million euros, from Milan and Manchester United."

“I don’t want to say too much about the lack of sales, even if there was a question of budgets, but Lotito’s choices were to maintain a strong team and respect the promises made to the coach. Let’s not forget that in the year of Covid, Lazio was about to win the scudetto.”