COMMENT: So the bid is in, right? All €60m's worth. For Nikola Milenkovic, yeah? Well, not quite. But one thing's for sure. Jose Mourinho wasn't at the Podgorica City stadium on a jolly.
The last time the Manchester United manager made such a conspicuous trip to Eastern Europe was 18 months ago, leading up to the 2017 summer transfer window. There he was, Mourinho, being snapped with Pedja Mijatovic, the former Real Madrid sports director and striker. That meeting led to United's very public - and forlorn - pursuit of Ivan Perisic, the Inter Milan attacker. A chase that ran for the entire length of the summer market, but fell over due to a difference of three million quid.
Cycle forward to today and Mourinho is again in Eastern Europe. Again he's snapped with a high profile mover-and-shaker - this time his old Chelsea striker, Mateja Kezman. And again, the visit is a precursor to what we can expect come January.
But a €60m bid already made to Fiorentina for Milenkovic? No. Not yet. But things are moving. Thanks to UEFA, Mourinho is prepared to oversee the biggest spending January transfer window of his career.
This season the shackles are off. The excuses are over. With UEFA ruling as many as three players signed in January can be registered with their new Champions League club, Europe is about to see a winter transfer window like no other. Bayern Munich are stumbling? Real Madrid are in crisis? No matter. If they can get through their Champions League group, it can all be reset with the right three signings - and from any club - over the New Year.
And the key for Mourinho is navigating United through this group phase. The manager will be supported in January - he's been assured of that. But only if United are still alive in the Champions League.
For those inside Carrington, they recognise the double header against Juventus will decide their fate. Banking on the Bianconeri beating Valencia in Turin, United staff believe if they can get at least a point from their two games against Juve then they back themselves to do enough at the Mestalla in the final round.
If United make it to the knockout phase, Mourinho will be backed in January. News from from Florence that Milenkovic was the player he was most keen on in Montenegro, however, is a surprise. Especially for the January market.
As Fabio Capello told us all last week, the United manager is seeking an accomplished centre-half. Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli and Inter Milan's Milan Skriniar were the two he mentioned in conversation with Capello. Koulibaly, particularly, would appear what is needed at this moment.
At 21, Milenkovic isn't going to make an instant impact. And with Victor Lindelof still battling for consistency and Axel Tuanzebe finding his feet at Aston Villa, Mourinho knows he can't be stockpiling young centre-halves at this stage of his team build.
It's why those enquiries were lodged - and remain alive - for the 33 year-old Helsingborgs veteran Andreas Granqvist. And why he sought the financial backing to test the resolve of Napoli's movie mogul owner Aurelio de Laurentiis for Koulibaly. Mourinho will seek a centre-half signing in January - and it will be one to go straight into his starting XI.
That's not to say Milenkovic isn't on the radar. The former Partizan Belgrade prospect definitely is. Indeed in Florence, claims from Mario Cognigni, Fiorentina's executive president, of rejecting a bumper August offer for Milenkovic had local speculation pointing the finger at Mourinho and United.
“Nikola Milenkovic? In the final days of the transfer window we rejected a €40m offer," stated Cognigni just a fortnight ago.
But if Mourinho is to act on what he witnessed on Friday night, it'll be for players with a few miles on the clock - and there really is no reason to second guess.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, the Lazio midfielder, isn't exactly a gnarled veteran. But at 23 and with three seasons in Italy's top-flight under his belt, he's one to parachute straight into Mourinho's line-up.
The Serb did get on the pitch in Podgorica - in the second-half. But Friday's trip wasn't so much a scouting mission for Mourinho. It was to be seen. To let us all know what he 'hopes' to do.
Milinkovic-Savic is the player he wants. He's made that clear to the media, to the support - and as a challenge to the board.
That SMS counts Kezman as his prime agent and his kid brother Vanya, now of SPAL, was once on United's books, makes Mourinho's plans appear obvious.
Almost as much as they were 18 months ago.
