Who is Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur target Lazar Markovic?

He has been linked with some of the best teams in Europe and cited as the most promising midfielder on the continent in some circles. His recent performance for Partizan Belgrade against Inter Milan lead the Nerazzuri boss Andrea Stramaccioni to publically declare his envy of the talents he possesses:

"He is a player with exceptional qualities. He possesses a very impressive acceleration and has a bright future ahead of him"

While obviously not a ringing endorsement of a potential move for the talented teenager Inter are now considered among the front runners in the chase for his signature along with Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Fiorentina and Bayern Munich.

There is quite seriously no doubting the boys’ talents, and the word boy is certainly apt considering the 18-years of existence he has chalked up so far.

He arrived at Partizan from Borac Cacak aged 12 and since that point his career has been on a one-way trajectory. He made his debut in May last year aged 17 and signed a professional contract just a few weeks later. A five-year deal that the hierarchy at Partizan are hoping he will honour at least a majority of. The reason why is his excellent performance last season for Partizan where he became a regular in the first team and was voted the Serbian young player of the season and Partizan player of the season.

His international career has also been a rapid rise as he bypassed several age-groups to play under-21 level football before making his full debut in February at the age of 17 and is now a regular member of the national set-up under Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Chelsea had at one point reportedly agreed a pre-contract deal with the teenager but that was eventually regarded as hogwash however they are certainly still chasing his signature. It is a signing that makes sense considering his neat technical ability and explosive speed. The main competition on paper would come from the fellow Premier League operators however if I was a betting man a flutter on all the main contenders losing out to Fiorentina is not a bad shout.

The Florence side has a good history of bringing in players from Partizan as is shown with Stevan Jovetic, Adem Ljajic and Matija Nastasic; who have all been success stories in Tuscany.

Here is in action…

Would you want any of the Premier League teams linked with him to snap him up?

image: © Jason Bagley