Millwall FC fired Mihailo Ivanovic encouragement as top-flight transfer interest emerges | OneFootball

Another summer move could be on the horizon for the 20-year-old.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Millwall striker Mihailo Ivanovic has been linked with joining Italian side Lazio.

The 20-year-old only arrived at The Den last summer but his breakthrough campaign in the Championship has caught the eye of the Serie A outfit, according to La Lazio Siamo Noi.

Unsurprisingly for the youngster who had never played outside of his home country of Serbia, who handed him his first international cap back in November, it took him a bit of time to settle into his new life. He only scored twice before the turn of the year, but then ended the season in strong form, scoring six times in the final seven matches of the season.

Millwall urged to hold onto Mihailo Ivanovic in the face of Lazio interest

Now a move to one of Europe's top five leagues may be on the cards. In the eyes of Football League World's Millwall fan pundit, Lucas Ball, it's hard to distract yourself from the appeal of a club like Lazio, but he believes that the club will be desperate to hold onto him.

If they are able to retain his services for at least one more season, and he, and the Lions, continue to progress in the direction that they were headed in at the end of the term, as Ball predicts, then Millwall could make a huge amount of money from the club-record fee of around £3 million that they invested to buy him from FK Vojvodina last summer.

On whether The Den-goers should be worried about this latest news, the Lions fan pundit said: "I think with Ivanovic, it's a good question, but you're naturally going to get interest in players if they're doing well.

"If there is that interest, it shows you're doing something right in your recruitment and the way you're going about things. Your manager is getting the best out of the players. Whatever it is, there's always a positive that comes with that because the players have got to have done well for it to happen, particularly when you've got clubs as big as Lazio looking at a striker from Millwall.

"It's obviously a massive club, and if they were to come in with a serious offer then who knows what could happen. It'd be a massive step for him to join a huge team like that, but he also seems to really enjoy his life at Millwall. He knows he's going to get guaranteed game time next season to really develop again. At Lazio that might be somewhat limited.

"We'll also, hopefully, have a real chance of pushing for the play-offs if we continue in the same vein under Alex Neil.

"There are pros and cons to both options for him, if Lazio are serious on him, but I think we'll keen to keep hold of him for at least one more year. He's the best natural finisher and all-round forward that we've had for a long, long time, and he's still very young with a lot of time to learn and develop.

"Millwall and Alex Neil will be doing everything they can to keep him at the club for longer, and rightly so."

Mihailo Ivanovic would be smart to stay with Millwall

Given Ivanovic stays on his current trajectory, he's not going to be short of top-level clubs fighting over him in the years to come. There is a very clear path for the likes of him - young, high-performing Championship prospects - to eventually go to the Premier League.

His former teammate Romain Esse, as well as ex-Blackburn Rovers midfielder Adam Wharton, have both jumped from the second tier to join Crystal Palace in the Premier League in two consecutive January windows. Now they're going to play in the Europa League next term.

In order to get to that level, the stability of being at one club with one consistent manager, who is getting a lot out of him, would serve the 20-year-old much better than jumping from team to team at such a young age.