Newcastle United were once linked with a move for Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic but it now looks like the Serbian could be heading to another PIF-backed club.
Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has long been linked with a move to a Premier League club with Newcastle one of the names frequently touted as a possible destination.
Now 90mins reports that those links were wide of the mark and Milinkovic-Savic is set to become the next big name to head to the Saudi Pro-League as the PIF-backed Al-Hilal have their eye on him.
Milinkovic-Savic has been hailed as ‘the best midfielder in Italy’
Described as ‘astonishingly gifted‘ by 90mins and ‘the best midfielder in Italy‘ by Paul Merson, Milinkovic-Savic would have been a superb signing for Newcastle, he’s an absolute beast in that Lazio midfield.
Nicknamed The Sergeant, the 28-year-old could be about to sign an eye-watering £20million-a-year deal with Al-Hilal after Lazio have ‘indicated willingness to sell’ after receiving a €40million (£34million) offer.
Milinkovic-Savic has apparently spoken to the Lazio chairman and begged him to accept the offer as he wants the move – I can’t say I blame him, if someone offered me a 10x pay increase, I’d probably want the move too.
If the Milinkovic-Savic deal goes through I’m sure Newcastle will once again be linked as every big-name player who has gone to one of the four PIF-backed Saudi clubs has been linked with a loan move to Newcastle causing salty tears all over social media. Rival fans seem to forget that Manchester City‘s owners have several clubs and loan players freely around them.
Newcastle are very unlikely to benefit from Milinkovic-Savic’s move to Saudi
It’s a thing that happens all over football but it’s only a problem if Newcastle do it.
Whether that link pops up or not, it’s unlikely to happen anyway. At no point has it been suggested that Newcastle would benefit from the PIF links to the Saudi Pro League, other than in the imagination of the media and bitter rival fans.
It’s a shame though as a season with Milinkovic-Savic in our midfield certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing.
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