Christmas could have come early for Manchester United fans in the shape of Sergej, a 6ft 4in midfielder who says José Mourinho is the best coach in the world

After a run of nine wins in 10 games in Serie A, Lazio’s form has tailed off in the last few weeks. They have won just one of their last five league matches but, while their form has faltered, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s stock has continued to soar.

“I play for Lazio and I don’t care who came to watch me. I play for Lazio and I am happy here,” said the 22-year-old said this week when quizzed about speculation that Manchester United were preparing to break their own transfer record to sign the midfielder for £95m. Liverpool, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain have also been linked to the Serb but José Mourinho’s team may be the best fit for him.

Sergej has been nicknamed “Sergente” in Italy and it’s easy to see why. At 6ft 4in, he is an imposing figure in midfield who has won more aerial duels (190) than any other player in Serie A since the start of last season. He is an incredibly versatile performer, who is adept as one of the three midfielders in a 4-3-3 formation or behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1.

When played further up the pitch, Milinkovic-Savic can threaten opponents with his accurate long shots. He has scored five league goals this season and three of them have been struck outside the 18-yard box – making him more prolific from range than any Manchester United player this season. In fact, Kevin de Bruyne is the only Premier League player with more goals from outside of the box (four) than Milinkovic-Savic. His returns of 1.5 key passes and 1.9 successful dribbles per game this season are also impressive – and he has been fouled on average 1.3 times per game, which shows opponents struggle to stop him once he gets going.

Milinkovic-Savic is also effective when sitting a little deeper – he is averaging 2.4 tackles per league game this season, a figure only ballwinner Lucas Leiva (2.9) can better at Lazio – but he is at his best when given the box-to-box role in a 4-3-3 formation. Simone Inzaghi has found the ideal setup to maximise his defensive and offensive talents at Lazio, where he plays alongside Lucas and Luis Alberto.

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That being said, he is still only 22 and needs to improve a few areas of his game. He is Lazio’s second most prolific passer this season – with 54.3 passes per game – but his pass success rate of 81.8% could be better. “I’m still young and can make mistakes,” he said earlier this year. To his credit, he is improving; both numbers are up from the previous Serie A campaign, when he made 41.1 passes per game at a 73.4% completion rate.

He is only going to get better and that improvement may come in England. “Ibrahimovic is my favourite footballer,” he said in January. “His coach, Mourinho, is the best manager in the world – he’s intelligent and simply great.” If Lazio can be convinced to sell and “the Sergeant” can be convinced to leave Rome, he may well be marshalling a midfield in the Premier League very soon.

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