United have emerged as favourites in the race to land Milinkovic-Savic who has been attracting scouts from all of Europe’s leading clubs to watch him in action.
City boss Guardiola has been impressed with reports that he has received about the Serbian as is his opposite number at Old Trafford Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese boss had the player watched last weekend when Lazio beat Genoa 3-2 and will continue to keep tabs on him for the rest of the season.
Manchester United‘s Mourinho is ready to make Milinkovic-Savic a leading target for his spending next summer and is determined to make sure Guardiola misses out.
Lazio are ready to cash in and sell the highly-rated 22-year-old but they won’t be letting him go on the cheap.
They turned down a £40m bid from Juventus last summer and now want almost double before agreeing to let him leave the Italian capital.
The midfielder joined Lazio in 2015 from Genk.
He has so far made 81 appearances and scored 11 goals.
United are aware that central midfielder Michael Carrick may leave at the end of the season when his contract expires.
Mourinho signed Nemanja Matic in the summer for £40m but wanted to strengthen his midfield further.
United failed to land a fourth signing before deadline day despite Mourinho’s instructions.
As for City, they invested heavily in their squad this summer but are all set for another recruitment drive heading into next season.