West Ham and Tottenham in pursuit of Milenkovic as valuation slashed to £13m

West Ham and Tottenham not only clash on the pitch this weekend but they’re also both in the hunt to sign Fiorentina defender Nikola Milnkovic, according to the Sunday Mirror.

The newspaper reported via their print edition on 20 March [page 74] that Newcastle, Manchester United and Inter Milan are also in pursuit of the 24-year-old Serbia centre-back.

It is understood that Milenkovic enters the final year of his contract at Fiorentina this summer and he has “no intention” of agreeing fresh terms to stay at the Serie A club.

The Sunday Mirror adds that Fiorentina’s £37.5million demands for Milenkovic could be slashed to as little as £13million.

West Ham and Tottenham reportedly “fancy” the former Partizan Belgrade centre-back.

No chance

West Ham have blown their bid to finish in the top-four this season by failing to strengthen in the January transfer window.

Of course, there’s more to the slump in form to that but the lack of ambition shown in January will have no doubt put current players on tenterhooks and may have also scared off any potential signings.

If you were Milenkovic, where would you go?

West Ham

Would you go to Manchester United, who obviously need centre-backs, will throw money at you and almost guarantee trophies and European football throughout a three or four year spell? Or would you go to West Ham, who are showing signs of dropping backwards, are refusing to spend money and could be waving goodbye to their best players in the summer?

We’re annoyed about the lack of progress in January. If some ambition had been shown, we may have stood more of a chance of winning this race for Milenkovic.

Fiorentina’s star centre-back has “incredible potential”, in the eyes of former Partizan director Ivica Iliev, who was speaking to Labora Viola in February 2021.

It’s really disappointing that more efforts weren’t made in January.

In other West Ham news, Declan Rice has reacted to a question from Joe Cole about Barcelona.

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