Despite a flurry of early morning reports that Manchester United had agreed to loan Chris Smalling to AS Roma on a €3m loan without a view to buy, Gazzetta dello Sport see it differently.
According to the Italian newspaper, the Old Trafford club have actually negotiated a fee the Serie A side could buy the England international for at the end of the season: €15m.
As things stand, the player is still in England as he sorts out ‘bureaucratic details’ with United, and if those are overcome then Smalling is expected to fly out to Italy in order to undergo a medical before putting pen to paper on the contract that will keep him in Rome for the next 10 months or so.
The option to sign the Manchester United defender has come as a surprise to many, as Roma struggled to find an experienced defender on the market they could afford.
The favourite throughout the summer had been Toby Alderweireld, while Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren was the plan B in case that didn’t go through.
However, the Croatian’s demands were a bit too high for the Italians, and it seems they jumped at the opportunity to get a last minute deal done for Smalling when it presented itself.
We’ll find out more about who is right regarding the option to buy if/when the move is made, but it seems there is a chance the centre-back, who has yet to feature under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this season, could leave Old Trafford permanently if he performs well enough in the coming months.
