AC Milan preparing €40m loan offer for Manchester United target

He is extremely highly rated in Italy

AC Milan are preparing a €40m loan bid for Lazio's Sergej Milinković-Savić, according to La Stampa. The Lazio midfielder has been strongly linked with a move to Manchester United this summer, but Lazio's asking price of around €80m prevented a deal from going through. After a relatively quiet World Cup, in which Milinković-Savić wasn't able to demonstrate his full range of talents, a move to the Premier League started to look more unlikely, but he could still be on the move. AC Milan are looking to bolster their midfield options for the second summer in a row, after signing Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Franck Kessié and Lucas Biglia last summer. The San Siro club are reportedly preparing an offer for Milinković-Savić that would see Lazio receive €40m for an initial loan, with an option to buy the player for €80m permanently next summer. It could be a much more lucrative option for Lazio than selling him outright this summer, assuming Milan take up the option to sign the player. Milan have just signed Gonzalo Higuaín and Matia Caldara from Juventus, the former on just on loan, while Leonardo Bonucci returned to Juve as part of the deal. The Rossoneri finally seem to be putting together a team capable of challenging for the top four spots, and signing Milinković-Savić will only boost their chances of returning to the Champions League. Manchester United may have missed out of signing the Serb, but they won't be short of midfield options this summer after new signing Fred and Andreas Pereira impressed fans during pre-season. Pereira spent the past two seasons out on loan in La Liga, performing particularly well at Valencia under Marcelino, but now he is determined to break into the first team at United. He's certainly good enough.