Here we are: D-Day when it comes to extending the loans of certain players around Europe, including Chris Smalling.
If you’ve been paying attention over the past few days, you’ll know that Manchester United are being a bit difficult when it comes to the Englishman, as they are happy to let him stay with AS Roma until the end of the Serie A campaign, but are reluctant to let him play the remaining Europa League games for fear of facing him in the competition in August.
This is causing a bit of frustration in the Italian camp, who are also taking advantage of these talks to try and get an agreement for a loan extension for next year and hope to include a redemption clause.
It’s reported by Gazzetta dello Sport that Roma want to pay €3m up front to keep Smalling next year, as well as include a ‘mandatory purchase clause’ worth €15m, payable over three years.
However, Manchester United ‘want more’, and are ‘trying to include the extension of loan in the negotiation’, which seems to suggest Ed Woodward wants the Serie A side to pay to keep the defender for the month of August.
Gazzetta ask the question to their readers: ‘Not very elegant?’.
For them, it’s ‘hard to blame’ anyone who would think that way, but they also concede that’s ‘modern football’ for you.
Business is business, and all the other clichés.
