Lazio’s Milinkovic-Savic has joined Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia

Juventus get nothing

This article was first published at 4:47 p.m. on July 11 and was updated after the transfer was confirmed.

Update July 12, 9:04 p.m.: Now it’s official: Sergej Milinković-Savić is leaving Lazio after eight years. The 28-year-old signs with the Saudi record champions Al-Hilal SFC. Lazio President Claudio Lotito confirmed to the newspaper “Il MessaggeroMost recently, the forthcoming agreement and the desire of the Serbian international to accept the offer from Saudi Arabia.

reporter Alfredo Pedulla recently reported that only Lotito’s signature on the transfer contract is missing before Milinković-Savić can head to Riyadh to sign his own contract. That has now happened.

The transfer fee for the most valuable player in the squad of the Italian runners-up is reportedly 40 million euros with a one-year remaining contract. Al-Hilal thus increases its own spending this summer to €118m – €10m less than Real Madrid. The club, which belongs to the Saudi investment fund PIF chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, had previously signed future midfield partner Rúben Neves (26) and defender Kalidou Koulibaly (32). Al-Hilal’s expenses are already a domestic Saudi record – as is the €55m fee for Neves.

With bonuses, Milinković-Savić is said to earn up to 30 million euros a year in the capital, with Lazio it is said to have been 3.2 million euros net. Lotito had previously emphasized that he did not want to sell the professional, who had contributed 69 goals and 59 assists in 341 games since 2015, had won the Coppa Italia once and the Supercoppa twice and had moved up to seventh place among Lazio’s record players, but this one asked him to. “He called me and begged me to let him go. I tried several times to persuade him to stay, until the last I tried to keep him, I was ready to extend his contract and increase the salary to 6 million (net), but Sergei told me that he was after wants a change of scenery at Lazio for eight years,” he was quoted as saying by “Messaggero”.

Lotito on Al-Hilal’s wooing of Milinković-Savić: “Pay money, see camels”

Regarding the agreement with Al-Hilal, Lotito had held back until the end: “If the contract is not signed and the payment is not made, he will travel to the training camp. Pay money, see camels. These are life choices. I wouldn’t have met those, but obviously the 18 million (base salary) per season is his incentive. (…) The relationship with him was always very good. If he wants to go to Arabia, the motive is only money, there can be nothing else, but it’s okay: I promised the boy that I would accept the minimum bid.”

Super bitter for the neutral football fan, SMS is really a great player. If he now moves to the desert, in my opinion he hasn’t gotten the maximum out of his career, so in a sporty way. In terms of potential, he should actually play for the CL victory at an absolute top club. So he may have taken care of himself financially, but he won’t be remembered very well in terms of sport. Somehow half of Europe has been waiting for years for him to finally take the next step in his career, now …

With that, Lotito appears to be content with far less than he could have taken with Milinković-Savić in the past. In 2018, its market value rose to a high of EUR 90 million. AC Milan, which at the time paid around 200 million euros for players like Lucas Paquetá, Krzysztof Piatek and Nikola Kalinic, was willing to shell out as much as 140 million in bonuses, says Lotito: “It’s true. I’ve decided to turn down a €140m offer from Milan for Milinković-Savić in 2018. The offer was 60 million fixed plus 80 million bonuses payable in five installments in the event of a Champions League qualification. I don’t regret it.”

A year before the end of the contract, however, their own Champions League qualification was not enough to convince the Serbs to stay. After all: With the transfer, Lotito has achieved his goal of not strengthening any direct rivals, especially Juventus was considered very interested. Piotr Zielinski (29) from champion SSC Napoli, whose contract also ends in 2024, was traded as a potential successor to the right foot.

rumor
	P. Zielinski
	Central midfield
SSC Naples 9% Lazio Rome Series A Series A

Souls that flourish on the “Gold” #AlHilal pic.twitter.com/IfqZmjvvGZ

— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) July 12, 2023

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