Manchester United have reportedly cooled their interest in Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic, who had been a transfer target for Jose Mourinho.
This surprise claim comes from ESPN, who report that the Red Devils are now prioritising the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly and Milan Skriniar ahead of the young Serbian.
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This report comes just a day after Football Italia translated a claim made by Tuttosport that United were lining up a formal bid for Milenkovic, who is rated at around €50million.
This seems a bargain for a quality young centre-back who looks well on his way to becoming one of the leading players in Europe in his position.
United need a new signing in defence, and Milenkovic arguably seems a cheaper and more realistic target than Koulibaly and Skriniar, so quite why the club have decided not to focus on him is beyond us.
Liverpool must join Nikola Milenkovic transfer chase
This, however, presents a big opportunity to Liverpool, who surely have to enter the market for a new defender this January.
With injury concerns over Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren, the Reds are now worryingly short of cover at the back, and we all know how they were defending before Virgil van Dijk came along to shore things up for them.
Currently sitting four points clear at the top of the Premier League table, this could be the club’s best opportunity yet to end their long title drought, stretching back to 1990 before the Premier League era even begun.
The Sun have linked LFC with an interest in Burnley defender James Tarkowski on loan, though his club want £50million for him.
If Milenkovic is no longer being pursued by United and is available for cheaper than Tarkowski, he makes sense as an ideal signing for Jurgen Klopp’s side right now – and at 21 years of age, he’d be one for the future as well.
While Van Dijk and Gomez look the best first-choice partnership for Liverpool at the moment, having Milenkovic as an option as well would ensure they’re not having to rely on the error-prone Lovren too often.
This seems a no-brainer for the Merseyside giants, and fans can perhaps take some heart from the Tarkowski rumours, suggesting Klopp is ready to address that area of the pitch before the end of the month.
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