Kevin Strootman will cost United a ludicrously large sum…
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Manchester United have been told that they’ll have to shell out a ludicrous fee for a rumoured midfield target…
According to the Sun, AS Roma have warned the Old Trafford side that Kevin Strootman, their 24-year-old Dutch megastar, will cost £79m this summer.
United are known to want further central midfield enforcements, having already secured talented Spaniard Ander Herrera for £28m.
The suggested fee though will surely end any chance of Strootman, who is recovering from injury anyway, joining United before the end of the transfer window.
“What can I say about the rumours?,” his coach Rudi Garcia began.
“Maybe after a three-digit offer (€100m), then we will sit down and think about it.”
Strootman has been heavily linked to United because new manager Louis van Gaal is known to rate him very highly. He regularly selected the powerhouse for the Netherlands, although the Roma man missed the World Cup with injury.
The manager though is coy on United’s interest in Strootman, referring to the fact he’s been injured for most of 2014.
“I never say anything about individual players. It is my vision that we talk about a team and not individual players,” Van Gaal said.
“Strootman I can judge, but he is injured for more than six months. We have to wait and see how he comes back.
“It is not easy to say how he comes back from injury, but we will wait and see.”
The quotes suggest that if Strootman proves himself on his return to fitness, United could move for him in January – although Garcia’s suggested transfer fee makes the deal seem practically implausible.
Strootman prides himself on his ability to produce both defensively and offensively, and his physicality in the middle of the park. He’s won 25 caps for his country, and moved to Italy from PSV last summer for £17m.