Chris Smalling is set to leave Manchester United and join AS Roma on loan, according to Sky Sports and their Italian branch.
The Serie A club were interested in Liverpool centre-back Dejan Lovren first, but the Champions League holders reportedly weren’t interested in a temporary deal for the 30-year-old Croatian. Roma have therefore turned to Smalling, who, like Lovren at Liverpool, has fallen down the pecking order at United with the arrival of Harry Maguire.
The negotiations between the clubs have been going on since Tuesday with the Red Devils wanting initially €20 million for the player’s services, but they eventually agreed on a season-long loan to avoid any potential bureaucratic problems that could have ruined the chances of the move going through.
Roma need an experienced central defender to make up for the loss of Kostas Manolas, who has joined Napoli this summer. Apart from Lovren, they also tried (unsuccessfully) for Toby Alderweireld of Tottenham Hotspur and Daniele Rugani of Juventus.
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