After a rather terrible start to the season, Manchester United will be hoping to finish the first half of the season strongly and use the 1-0 win over Luton Town as a launching pad.
Erik ten Hag now has a week and a bit to try and sort problems out during the international break, which is also a time when some transfer rumours start swirling ahead of January.
Il Romanista in Italy have a rather interesting article on Thursday claiming that Manchester United are interested in an AS Roma player, and it’s a centre-back.
Don’t worry, it isn’t Chris Smalling, but his teammate Gianluca Mancini, who has been a rock at the back for José Mourinho this season, starting every single game in Serie A.
The website explain the Italian has ‘entered the sights’ of Manchester United, who need a ‘reliable central defender’ to help out Raphaël Varane, who has seen a dip in his form take place.
While there has been something of a Harry Maguire resurgence, he still has not been ‘convincing for some time’, while Lisandro Martínez continues to battle an injury.
That’s why Mancini is a ‘welcome profile’ around Old Trafford, and his valuation of around €20m is an amount Manchester United can ‘easily dispose of’.
The problem here is that AS Roma won’t let him leave for that, and the Friedkin family will be asking for ‘at least €10-15m more’.
In the end, while the Serie A club might not want to sell him, a lot could end up depending on the player himself, because it ‘cannot be ruled out’ that the interest of someone like Manchester United could make his head turn.
