According to reports from Calcio Mercato, Serbia legend Dejan Stankovic will meet Red Star Belgrade’s Marko Grujic tonight to sway him towards joining Inter Milan over rival suitors Chelsea and Manchester United.
The 6 foot 3 midfielder, who has been compared in style and stature to countryman Nemanja Matic, first drew attention during Serbia’s U20 World Cup campaign during the summer and has since emerged as one of the most sought-after youngsters in European football.
The Red Devils ran the rule over the 19-year-old during last month’s Belgrade derby; a 3-0 win over FK Rad Beograd in which he opened the scoring with a 30-yard piledriver; whilst Chelsea have been tracking the teenager for some time.
Grujic confirmed the Blues’ interest earlier this week, telling reporters; “Nemanja Matic is a friend, he’s Serbian and he has been at Chelsea for over a year. He tells me that they want me. Right now I am at Red Star, we are top of the table and I want to win the title here. I don’t think that I’ll be moving in January, but there’s definitely more of a chance in June.”
But it appears rival suitors Inter Milan, who are particularly knowledgeable of the Eastern European market, are hoping a star-studded endorser of their own can convince Grujic into a San Siro move instead. Former Nerazzurri midfielder and current assistant manager Dejan Stankovic, who is Serbia’s all-time leading appearance maker, will meet Grujic this evening following the U21 squad’s clash with Slovenia.