Red Devils want the Serbian giant

Attack wins you games but it’s defence that wins you titles. And Manchester United have been far from winning the Premier League title for almost a decade now. Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer wants to address this by adding a reliable defender to his backline. Nikola Milenkovic is the wanted man at Old Trafford.

After being priced out of a deal to sign Sevilla’s French stopper Jules Kounde, Manchester United believe that they have identified an even better target. Serbian international centre-back Nikola Milenkovic is big, strong, quick and experienced – despite being only 23 years old.

United have had a great experience with Serbian defenders. Nemanja Vidic was signed in 2006 and turned out to be one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s best signings as the strong defender led the team to five Premier League titles and a Champions League win in seven and a half years at Old Trafford. Milenkovic is seen as a natural heir to Vidic in the Serbia national team – and he could be the same for Solskjaer’s side.

Nikola Milenkovic started his professional career with his boyhood club Partizan in Serbia and showed huge potential that earned him a $5million transfer to Fiorentina in Italy. Serie A is a highly competitive league that requires defenders to show great intelligence and awareness but Milenkovic proved capable to raise his game to such a high standard. He showed maturity and ability and established himself as a first-teamer at the famous Viola. His contract has just over a year left to run and Fiorentina might be tempted to cash in on the player and avoid the possibility of losing him for nothing next season.

It also reduces Fiorentina’s bargaining power, meaning a bid of around $40million should be enough to secure Milenkovic’s services.

The Red Devils are preparing a major rehaul of their backline. Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof are apparently viewed as not good enough to play regularly and could be nearing the end of their stay in Manchester. Solskjaer needs a reliable defender who would establish a solid centre-back pairing with captain Harry Maguire.

Liverpool were also in the race for Milenkovic at one point, but they’ve since switched their attention to RB Leipzig youngster Ibrahima Konate.