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What's the rumour?
According to 90MiN, Real Madrid and Juventus are reportedly eyeing Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in the remaining three weeks of the transfer window. Real Madrid has been surprisingly relatively quiet in this transfer window in terms of acquisition of new players.
According to Tuttosport in Italy, Milinkovic-Savic fits the profile outlined by Real President Florentino Perez of 'the best players in the world' and that the Serbian would fill a growing 'hole' in midfield.
Tuttosport also claims that Madrid has eyes for Juve's Miralem Pjanic in a similar capacity.
In case you didn't know...
Real Madrid's midfield strength and dominance have been depleted with the departure of Kovacic on loan to Chelsea this season. With the rumors doing the round of Luka Modric's potential departure from the Bernabeu in near future, Real Madrid should start looking for their suitable replacements before it is too late.
The heart of the matter
Juventus with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid have become ambitious and hence are looking to sign star players. Real Madrid, on the other hand, is looking to fill in the vacancies left by Ronaldo's and Kovacic's departure.
With reports also suggesting Luka Modric's possible exit for a new challenge, Real Madrid has zeroed in on two-star midfielders as suitable replacements in the form of Milinkovic-Savic and Pjanic.
Juventus have put a release clause of €100m on Pjanic and according to reports, it is highly unlikely that they will dole out this amount for him. Milinkovic-Savic too is been listed at €155m by Lazio. But with the Premier League teams out of the picture now due to the end of their transfer deadline, it is quite possible that Lazio could negotiate at a lower price
Rumours Rating: 5/10
It is likely that Real Madrid will try their best to get Milinkovic-Savic due to him being just 23 years old. Being talented and a physically strong midfielder, he is a Galactico material for Perez.
What's next?
Real Madrid will certainly according to these reports look to negotiate with Lazio for Milinkovic Savic and try to ward off Juventus from making contact with him first
