Lazio boss Simone Inzaghi is hopeful Sergej Milinkovic-Savic can become "even better than Paul Pogba" after establishing himself as one of Serie A's most promising players.
The 22-year-old joined Lazio from Genk at the start of the 2015-16 season and, after a year of bedding in, secured a regular place in the starting XI last term.
And he has kicked on in impressive fashion this season, producing a string of standout performances and scoring five goals – one more than he managed in the entirety of 2016-17.
The Spain-born Serbia international has developed into a fine box-to-box midfielder and has found himself linked with a number of the world's biggest clubs, such as Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, something Inzaghi believes is to be expected.
"He is 22 and doing really well, so attracting interest is normal," Inzaghi told reporters.
"I speak with him a lot, though. He is happy here. He is happy with Lazio, and he is aware that if teams like that are interested in him, then it will be down to Lazio [if he leaves].
"I'm happy if there is interest in our players. It proves that we're doing well, but at the moment he's very happy at Lazio. Last year he signed a new long-term contract with us.
"We are speaking of a really young player who has both quality and physicality, whereas most of the time players have one or the other.
"So he is highly regarded and I hope he becomes even better than Pogba, who is most definitely one of the best."
‘I don’t think Liverpool would look at Ollie Watkins, a striker isn’t a pressing issue for them – it’s Arsenal who need one’ Former Reds star explains why his old club don’t need an out-and-out forward this summer
‘He’ll still be playing at 40 at a good level because he’s in such good shape and looks after himself so well. He does everything to be a top professional’: Ex-Liverpool coach insists Mohamed Salah has plenty more miles in the tank
