Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic is expected to have his transfer to Premier League side Nottingham Forest wrapped up today. Here is everything you need to know about the 26-year-old’s situation and his career to date.
Who is Milenkovic?
Milenkovic is a towering, 6’5 centre-back who has spent the vast majority of his professional career in Italy with Fiorentina. Born in Belgrade, he had been a member of the youth academy with Partizan and had his first taste of senior football out on loan with local side Teleoptik.
He returned to Partizan as a 19-year-old in 2016, and spent the following season as a mainstay in the first team, turning out in 32 Serbian SuperLiga matches.
Fiorentina came calling in the summer of 2017, and paid a reported fee of €5.1m to bring him over to Tuscany. He has not left the Stadio Franchi since then.
After spending his first season in Italy getting to grips with his new surroundings, he has gone on to be an ever-present member of the Viola back-line in recent years. Over the last six seasons, he has turned out for an average of 33.3 league matches per season.
For the past two seasons, he has also added 11 appearances per year to his tally through UEFA competitions, and played an important role in Fiorentina’s run to two consecutive Europa Conference League finals.
He had, of course, also been part of the team that helped Fiorentina return to European competition for the first time in over five years before that as well.
To fans of the English game, Milenkovic is perhaps most recognisable from England’s 1-0 victory over Serbia in their opening game of the EURO 2024 group stages.
Contract situation and Nottingham Forest talks
He is now set for a switch to the English midlands to join Nottingham Forest in a deal reported to be worth €12m plus bonuses. Both clubs have agreed to the transfer fee according to recent reports, and legal representatives from both sides are now discussing the finer details of the transfer.
Milenkovic is still currently under contract with Fiorentina for just shy of a further three years, until the summer of 2027.
Both Fiorentina and Nottingham Forest hope to have the deal fully concluded by the end of Tuesday, according to reports on Monday.
Price seems very low. Makes me wonder if there was an agreement that they’d sell at a certain price when he signed his last contract, after nearly leaving.