The fact Aurelio de Laurentiis openly admitted wanting to make a move for Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian doesn’t mean an offer has been made.
This is what Il Mattino are reporting on Monday, claiming that, as things stand, Napoli are yet to present the Red Devils with an official loan bid for the Italy international.
With Santiago Arias going to Atlético Madrid, the Serie A side’s president told Radio Kiss Kiss over the weekend he was interested in signing Darmian on loan with a view to buy, but in order to do that, he’ll need to make it official, and he’s simply waiting for the Portuguese manager’s green light to do so, as José Mourinho still hasn’t said yes to Darmian’s exit.
Over at Gazzetta dello Sport, the information is the same, except they have the numbers that would convince Manchester United to let their want away defender go.
As long as Napoli come forward with some money up front for the loan and the whole deal potentially generates €15-17m for the Red Devils, there shouldn’t be too many problems.
Manchester United could even accept the possibility of Darmian returning to Old Trafford next season should he underperform, as the Serie A club’s offer is likely to only be a ‘right to buy’ and not an ‘obligation to buy’.
It’s not ideal, but with the full-back making it extremely clear he wants to leave, they might not have a choice.
They might also have to pay some of his wages, as Gazzetta explain the €3.5m/year are a bit much for Napoli.
