Chris Smalling staying at AS Roma, an operation that once looked like a lost cause, is now coming together quite nicely.
This is what Corriere dello Sport are suggesting on Wednesday, as they report that Franco Baldini, who was once the technical director at Tottenham, is working on trying to secure a deal that would suit both the Italian side and Manchester United.
He is ‘particularly’ focused on the matter these days following Smalling expressing his desire to stay in the country’s capital, which has led his agents, and the aforementioned Baldini, to focus their efforts on getting it done.
It’s explained the solution could be found via a ‘paid loan with an obligation to buy, fixed at €18m’.
This could ‘go down well’ with Manchester United, who are ‘looking to cash in with a few sales’, although the money for this particular one would not arrive in their bank account until 2021.
It would certainly allow them to get a fee close to the €20m they were originally asking for, as we’re guessing Ed Woodward will want a fee of €2m or more to allow Roma to secure the second loan in the first place.
We’ll see, but if Franco Baldini, the man who acts as aa personal advisor to James Pallotta, the Serie A club’s owner, is involved, then it’s getting serious.
