You would’ve thought Jose Mourinho may have taken the international break to relax from the stresses of managing Manchester United, but the Portuguese boss elected to venture on his travels on Thursday evening and the Red Devils boss was caught watching Montenegro v Serbia in the UEFA Nations League.
An historic first meeting between the two former Yugoslav republics saw Serbia win 2-0 thanks to a brace from Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, but it was not the Cottagers striker that Mourinho was there to watch, but it was Mitrovic’s Serbian teammate Nikola Milenkovic.
The 20-year-old currently plays for Fiorentina as a central defender, and is blossoming for the Serie A side having joined from Partizan Belgrade last year.
An area United are certainly lacking in is the defensive part of the pitch and Milenkovic has been lauded by those watching him week-in-week-out in the Italian top-flight and he has been likened to former United legend Nemanja Vidic, who was a rock in United’s defence alongside Rio Ferdinand.
Mourinho will be able to call on his current midfield general Nemanja Matic, who didn’t feature for Serbia last night, but will be able to guide Mourinho on Milenkovic’s qualities, and having helped keep a clean sheet last night then Milenkovic could be a possible transfer target in January.
As well as Milenkovic, Mourinho would’ve been hoping to keep an eye on Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who was linked with a move to Old Trafford throughout the summer, but the Lazio midfielder only came on in the 79th minute, so Mourinho wouldn’t have been able to see that much of another Serie A player linked with a move to the north west of England.