Manchester United’s hopes of signing Nikola Milenkovic from Fiorentina have hit a major roadblock as the club are not willing to sell the defender in January, according to the Mirror.

The 21-year-old Serbian has been a standout performer for the Serie A side and has scored a couple of goals from 18 league games this season.

Milenkovic can play as a centre-back or as a right-back and is rated at £50million, according to the Mirror. The report adds that United wanted to sign the player in the January window and were willing to send Andreas Pereira in a player-plus-cash deal.

However, the Italians are not interested in losing their star player now and a source from the Serie A club said (h/t Mirror):

”Nikola won’t move in January. He will see the season out at the Artemio Franchi [Fiorentina’s stadium] and then, if he does leave, he is likely to command a very high fee of around £50m.”

The report adds that United are looking for a new right-back, given that both Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia are 33.

We signed Diogo Dalot in the summer but Milenkovic can slot into the right-back position with ease.

United have a leaky defence and adding some quality to the back four should help David de Gea record more clean sheets this season.

Read more: Man United could bid £90m in the summer to sign world-class Serie A defender

The winter window could define where we finish this term as a few quality signings could help us in the race for a top-four place.