For months it looked like Roma would find a way to keep Chris Smalling on a permanent deal from Man United, but suddenly nothing happened and he was on his way back to Manchester.
Man United do have a need for a new centre back to partner Harry Maguire, but it’s hard to see a scenario where Smalling would get a fair chance to establish himself in the first team.
The Sun have reported on the latest with his situation, and it looks like there has been one key development in this story.
One thing that hasn’t changed is United’s and Roma’s valuation on the player – Roma will pay £15m but United want £20m – and that’s what’s preventing the deal from happening just now.
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That report does suggest Chris Smalling would take a sizeable wage but on his £130k a week contract at Man United, so you wonder if that might change things.
That would give Roma a decent weekly saving so they could potentially find a way to pay the extra money, but it still doesn’t look like anything is close just now.
As things stand he will be a Man United player at the start of next season, but it’s hard to see things staying that way.