Juventus Reportedly Reject Lazio's Latest Player-Plus-Cash Offer for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic

Juventus have reportedly rejected Lazio's latest valuation of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, which includes a fee of £89m plus Rodrigo Bentancur.

Milinkovic-Savic has captured the imaginations of a number of sides across Europe due to his superb performances for Lazio during the 2017/18 season. He scored 14 goals and provided nine assists in all competitions and has subsequently become a top transfer target for teams such as Manchester United and Juventus.

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Lazio have now began official talks with Juventus, according to TuttoSport, and they have already proposed an optimistic player plus cash offer, including a sum of £89m plus Rodrigo Bentancur.

Unsurprisingly, this initial proposal has said to have been turned down by Juventus for two reasons. Firstly, the cash sum is far too high in itself and secondly Bentancur is not a player Juventus are willing to sell, due to his importance in the side after an impressive 2017/18 season.

Bentancur has also impressed so far at this year's World Cup in the heart of the Uruguayan midfield and, at 22-years-old, he is only likely to improve whilst at Juventus.

This could leave the door ajar for Manchester United to make a move for Milinkovic-Savic, especially now that they have a better understanding of the sort of money Lazio are demanding for the Serbian international.

The only stumbling block may be the fact that TuttoSport are reporting that a deal between Lazio and Juventus is still potentially alive and that they are still in discussions with one another regarding the transfer.

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It seems clear that Lazio will be willing to sell Milinkovic-Savic this summer, but only for a rather extortionate amount. Time will tell to see whether another side can twist their arm to reduce that price significantly.