Milan have made contact over Red Star Belgrade attacking midfielder Vasilije Kostov, and the Serbian club have set a starting price of €20m, according to Calciomercato.
The interest fits a scouting pattern that has already produced results in Serbia. Milan brought in Andrej Kostic from Partizan Belgrade and, before him, Marko Lazetic from Red Star itself, so the network in the region is familiar territory for the club's recruitment staff.
Kostov is 18 and has held down a starting role at Red Star for around a year and a half, no small feat at one of Eastern Europe's biggest clubs. He has opened this Serbian league season with 3 goals in 3 games, and last term he managed 14 goals in all competitions as a teenager, the kind of return that explains why the asking price could climb further.
Milan are not alone. Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund have been tracking him for some time, and Inter opened talks without pushing the move to a conclusion. Milan, for their part, have been following Kostov for a year and have been in contact with his camp for several months.
That contact runs through a notable name. Kostov's agent is Nikola Kolarov, brother of Aleksandar Kolarov and assistant to Cristian Chivu. The Milan management have been asking about the price and how the situation might develop, and the €20m figure is where Red Star are starting from.
On the pitch, Kostov has featured as a central midfielder for the Red Star first team, using his ability to break into the opposition box with late runs. He was raised as an attacking midfielder, though, and is most at home in the playmaker positions. The report describes him as the best Serbian talent on the horizon.
Milan intend to clear up any remaining doubts over the coming months before pushing the negotiation forward. At €20m for an 18-year-old already contributing at first-team level, the fee is steep for a project signing, but the scoring record gives the club something concrete to weigh against it.
From here, the next move is Milan's, once the scouting work is done and the club decides whether to turn a year of watching into a formal approach.