Report: Juventus could make another run at Sergej Milinkovic-Savic this summer

Back a few months ago at the end of January, Juventus pulled the biggest surprise of them all, swinging a big-money move for a high-priced Serbian star who just so happened to have previously played for a Serie A rival.

Could they do the same thing again this summer?

According to Italian journalist Nicolo Schira early Tuesday, Juventus is hoping to make a splash on the transfer market this summer — and that involves a big name coming into the midfield corps. The name that Juventus manager Max Allegri and director Federico Cherubini have at the top of their list is a familar one: Sergej Milinkovic-Savic of Lazio, a national team teammate of a certain Dusan Vlahovic. The thing is with interest when it comes to interest in potentially pursuing Milinkovic-Savic is that you will have to do business with Claudio Lotito, who has reportedly slapped a price tag upward of €70 million on the Serbian midfielder if a team comes calling this summer.

As you might expect, there are some of Europe’s biggest spenders also rumored to be interested in Milinkovic-Savic — Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.

SMS is no longer the young and up-and-coming midfielder in Serie A that so many clubs are after. He turned 27 years old in February, and he is very much in his prime right now. He is now the finished project rather than potential. Which means if Juventus were to make the investment in him, it’s as much for the present — especially with how the midfield is missing one more big-time piece — as it is for 2024, 2025 and beyond.

If clubs like Manchester United and PSG really do come calling for Milinkovic-Savic as has been rumored not just now but in previous transfer windows, then the last thing Juventus needs is to get into a bidding war with those folks. (Remember, one of the biggest things when it came to signing Vlahovic was that he wanted to sign with Juventus and only Juventus, essentially preventing Fiorentina from driving up the price even further.)

Milinkovic-Savic is just the latest name to be added to the list of rumored summer targets for a Juventus squad that is likely to see a lot of changes take place. Combine the potential free agents with some of the likely departures and then the players who would come in to replace them and you’ve got a summer in which there’s probably going to be a good amount of turnover for a team that wants to get younger and not as bloated salary-wise.

Potentially spending €70 million isn’t exactly following that kind of direction, obviously, but we said the same type of thing when the Vlahovic rumors first started. And as Juventus proved in January, just when you think there isn’t money for a big-time move ... there is.