Lazio have agreed terms with Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal for the transfer of midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic ahead of the 2023/24 season.
For the past few months, Saudi Arabia clubs have been snapping up most of Europe’s top talents and they are working on getting a lot more into their ranks. The likes of N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, Edouard Mendy and Ruben Neves have all joined Cristiano Ronaldo who was the first acquisition for the league in this new wave of signing European stars.
Al Hilal missed out on Lionel Messi who chose to move to the relatively smaller and quieter MLS franchise club, Inter Miami. Since then, they have been on the offensive for a number of players.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is the latest acquisition to their ranks and is one which will irk many European top clubs. The 28-year-old midfielder has long been admired by the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan and reportedly, Bayern Munich, but Lazio have played hardball with all of them.
His value at some point was set at £80 million by the Biancocelesti but reports indicate that they will only be accepting a £34 million payment from Al Hilal for the Serbian.
It is a lucrative move for the player, however, as he is set to rake in £17 million annually as his income, outside bonuses. It is understood, however, that one of the reasons for the move was the player’s strong determination to leave Stadio Olimpico after the 2022/23 season following his previous failed attempts to do so.
While the media continued to report the interest of various European sides, Al Hilal made the move and agreed personal terms with the player, which forced Lazio’s hand into a deal.
Milinkovic-Savic will now be calling time on a journey that lasted eight seasons in the capital of Italy. In that time, he has drawn comparisons to Yaya Toure for his completeness as a midfielder.
The 2018/19 Serie A Midfielder of the Year lifted the 2018/19 Coppa Italia with Lazio thanks to him opening the scoring in the 82nd minute as they went on to win 2-0 over Atalanta. He has scored 69 goals in 341 games for Lazio – 11 of which came last season.
Al Hilal will be the fourth club of his senior career which began in his home country with FK Vojvodina, which led him to the Belgian Jupiler Pro League with KRC Genk and then to Lazio in 2015.
