Incredible reason why Celtic didn’t sign Sergej Milinkovic-Savic

It is safe to say that Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is one of the most exciting midfield talents in all of Europe right now but what most people don’t know is that Celtic had the chance to sign him for a transfer fee around €600,000 at one point of time. But a move did not end up happening because of an incredible reason, which has now been revealed.

While Milinkovic-Savic might have established himself as a star at Lazio, at the start of his career, he was playing for Serbian side FK Vojvodina.

It was back then that it appears that Celtic had their eyes on the midfielder and even had him scouted. He would ultimately end up joining Genk though, before moving to Lazio. The rest is history and the Serbian is believed to be rated at a transfer fee around €80 million these days.

David Moss was a part of the Celtic scouting department back during Milinkovic-Savic’s FK Vojvodina days and as reported by GOAL, he said:

"“I was scouting people like Milinkovic-Savic at Vojvodina before he went on to do what he did.“Genk took him, but I watched him three times and pushed for it. Unfortunately, when those higher up watched him live, he had a rare bad game.”"

A rare bad game from Milinkovic-Savic led to Celtic not signing him

There is no doubt about the fact Milinkovic-Savic would have been a terrific signing for Celtic. He has been one of the most highly-rated talents in the Serie A for years now. And while links with some of the biggest clubs in Europe have existed for a long time, a move has not happened till now.

It is clear that it was a mistake on the part of Celtic to cool their interest on a talent like the Serbian star following one bad game. The story also makes one wonder how many top players clubs end up missing due to similar situations.

But that is just football. It ultimately turned out quite well for Milinkovic-Savic, who has gone on to enjoy a solid career and at 26 years of age, can reach even greater heights in the future.