AS Roma have reportedly made a new and final €15 million offer as they look to sign English defender Chris Smalling from Manchester United.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, AS Roma are still pushing to sign Manchester United star Chris Smalling before the summer transfer window closes on Monday.
The 30-year-old Englishman has been with Manchester United for a little over ten years now, having joined from Fulham in 2010. Having been a regular in the side for the majority of his tenure at Old Trafford, Smalling dropped down the pecking order last summer following Harry Maguire’s arrival and was loaned out to AS Roma.
The England international enjoyed a resurgent run in Italy, emerging as one of the top defenders in Serie A in 2019/20. Having returned to Manchester United in the summer, Smalling has been pushing for a return to Italy ever since.
Roma, too, have been intent on securing his signing on a permanent transfer, but haven’t been able to negotiate a deal with the Red Devils. But, with the transfer window on the verge of closing, the Giallorossi have made another push to try and sign the veteran defender.
As per the aforementioned report, the Italian capital outfit has lodged another bid to try and secure Smalling’s transfer before Monday’s deadline. The new bid reported to be around €15 million could be accepted by Manchester United as the club realises that there are unlikely to be any clubs matching that offer this late in the transfer window.
Roma manager Paulo Fonseca also sounded confident that a deal can be struck speaking after the club’s victory over Udinese on Saturday. “We can’t stay with just three defenders, we need another player. There still are forty-eight hours and we’ll see what happens, but I’m confident for Smalling’s return,” he said.
One of the longest-serving players in the Manchester United squad, Smalling has racked up 323 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring 18 goals. He has won two Premier League titles with the club, along with a number of other trophies.
Even though he has been back at United since the end of the 2019/20 campaign, Smalling has been training away from the first-team, alongside fellow centre-back Marcos Rojo, who is also expected to leave the club before the window closes.
It has been slow-moving for Manchester United in the transfer window this summer. However, a flurry of activity is expected in the last two days of the transfer window, both incoming and outgoing. Diogo Dalot has left for AC Milan on loan, while Edinson Cavani and Alex Telles are on the verge of joining the Red Devils.
