Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is a potential star of the future, but his short-term future should be with I Biancocelesti.
Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is a man who was watched closely by many during this World Cup as he represented Serbia, with excitement rightly building around the emerging star.
Serbia exited at the group stage with Brazil and Switzerland prevailing ahead of them, meaning his chances to impress were somewhat limited, but in the coming seasons, there will be plenty of time to admire his quality.
As the hype has built around in him recent months, with most of Europe’s elite clubs linked with him at some stage, it would be easy to assume that he will move on to a bigger club sooner rather than later, but there’s no reason to rush into a move elsewhere in the immediate future.
In Lazio, he’s at a club where he can grow and be the main man. Simone Inzaghi has built his midfield around the talented Serb, and trusts him to perform.
Away from the pressure of one of the real top clubs is where Milinkovic is best served at this stage of his professional career. At the age of 23, he has time on his side, but moving too soon would be a mistake.
Sometimes taking yourself outside of your comfort zone can aid progression, but often in football moving too soon can stifle growth — just ask Martin Odegaard, Jack Rodwell or Wilfried Zaha. Moving at the right time is crucial to getting the most out of the ability he has.
If he were to move to a new league, adapting to that would not necessarily be easy. That is not to say that he could not manage it, but it would be an unnecessary risk at this point.
Chelsea and Manchester United, for example, have been linked, but a move to the Premier League would take some adaptation. He would almost certainly not adjust straight away.
Under the pressure of a huge fee, he would have to make an immediate impact or would face being out of the team. Being out of the team would increase scrutiny, and inhibit his progression.
The time will come for him to leave Lazio and go somewhere else, but right now, that should not be on his mind.
Lazio are at the perfect level: They’re good enough to keep developing him, but equally not large enough to attract super-high levels of scrutiny.
It is important to remember that he is still inexperienced: Despite being someone observers of Serbia would have had keen eyes on, he does only have seven international caps and is yet to score an international goal.
Youth can be a virtue in soccer, with fearlessness and confidence useful qualities, but the big move will come when the time is right.
Keep performing at the level he reached last season, scoring 12 league goals and providing four assists, and the clubs that are circling will not go away.
He is unlikely to see out his contract at Lazio, which runs until 2022, but remaining for another year would offer the ideal platform to continue his rapid development.