Manchester United could hand Sergej Milinkovic-Savic dream squad number if they complete transfer

Manchester United could give Sergej Milinkovic-Savic his perfect squad number at Old Trafford, though it is one that looked to have been earmarked for someone else.

Despite having a whole summer to give Erik ten Hag the significant improvements he wants to his squad, United are now desperately scrambling in the final few weeks, with the Premier League season now underway, to bring in some late reinforcements. Attack and midfield are of chief concern, with United being unable to bring in their top targets in both areas.

The dire lack of options up front was made clear on Sunday when the manager was forced to start Christian Eriksen as a centre-forward with Anthony Martial injured and Cristiano Ronaldo not fit enough to play 90 minutes. It doesn't look likely to be fixed any time soon, either, as they have pulled out of a move for Marko Arnautovic and have missed out on Benjamin Sesko to RB Leipzig.

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Though Eriksen has been added to the middle, Ten Hag still wants more players with the technical abilities to implement his style on the pitch. To that end, United have been targeting Frenkie de Jong all summer and agreed an €85million fee with Barcelona last month, but the move has hit an impasse due to wages the Dutchman is owed by the club.

With it looking increasingly unlikely that De Jong will be signed, United have cast their net wider and have agreed a fee with Juventus for Adrien Rabiot. The move for the Frenchman doesn't mean United have abandoned De Jong, but backups are being kept 'warm' in the event their top target doesn't arrive in Manchester.

One such alternative is Lazio's Milinkovic-Savic, with it being understood that United are considering a €68million