In the summer of 2018 AC Milan had made a mammoth offer of over €100 million to sign Lazio star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
Before the Champions League match between Lazio and Bayern Munich (which ended 1-4 in favor of the Germans), Igli Tare, Lazio’s sporting director, talked for the first time on a sensational offer received for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, one of the best players of the Eagles.
It was the last days of the 2018 summer transfer transfer window. Leonardo and Maldini had just arrived at Milan and, after the double deal with Juve for Caldara and Higuain, they wanted to give coach Gennaro Gattuso and their fans another great signing. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was close to becoming the most expensive purchase in AC Milan history.
Leonardo had shown great respect and admiration for the Serbian midfielder and hoped to bring him at San Siro. The Rossoneri pressed for the signing of the dynamic midfielder but without success. During that summer, when Milan was in a phase of reconstruction after the Chinese tenure. The Lazio midfielder was often linked with the Rossoneri and negotiations continued until the last hours of the mercato.
The Lazio sporting director confirms the rumors. According to Igli Tare the choice to keep Milinkovic-Savic in the capital depended solely on the president. AC Milan had reportedly offer more than 100 million euros for the central midfielder. Milinkovic-Savic was supposed to arrive on loan (40 million) with the rest of the fee set to be paied after two seasons.
“Two years ago, very important offer arrived for Milinkovic-Savic in the last hours of the mercato. I raised my hands and gave Lotito the honor of choice. It all depended on him. The president rejected the offer because he wanted to play in the Champions League. He deserves compliments because it was a very important economic sacrifice “.
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