La Liga giants Atletico Madrid have made preliminary contact with the agent of Partizan Belgrade winger Andrija Zivkovic. The 19-year-old, who has been dubbed the ‘Serbian Lionel Messi’ , was instrumental in helping his team win the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was held in New Zealand.
Zivkovic scored twice in his side’s World Cup winning campaign under the guidance of former Atletico Madrid midfielder Veljko Paunovic. The 19-year-old is the youngest player to have featured for the Serbian national team and is also the youngest Partizan captain.
According to Spanish daily AS, Atletico Madrid have kept a close eye on the development of the winger and have made contact with his representatives. Zivkovic’s contract with the Serbian side runs until the end of this season and it is claimed Premier League giants Arsenal and Tottenham alongside Spanish club Villarreal are interested in his services.
Last year Spanish club Valencia were interested in luring the winger away from the Partizan Stadium, but the 19-year-old decided to stay with his boyhood club for one more season.
The Vicente Calderon outfit believe that Zivkovic has a huge future ahead of him and the 19-year-old is ready to take the leap to one of the big leagues in European football.
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Atletico Madrid’s pursuit of Zivkovic from Partizan Belgrade is in line with their recent recruitment policy, which sees them focus more on young talented players.
The Spanish side may be front-runners in the race to sign the ‘Serbian Messi’, however, with his contract up in June, the winger is free to negotiate with any club from January and with Arsenal and Tottenham interested, the race for his signature has the potential to go down to the wire.
