Premier League giants Manchester United have confirmed that English defender Chris Smalling will be making the move to Serie A side AS Roma on a loan deal before the end of this summer transfer window.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has explained that United now have six fit center-backs and he could not promise Chris Smalling regular football at Old Trafford and that is the reason why he is allowing the 29-year-old to leave on loan.
Smalling arrived at Manchester United from Fulham back in 2010 but has never really managed to establish himself as a fan favorite with the United faithful. The England center-back did a feature on a regular basis for Solskjaer last season and even under the previous manager Jose Mourinho.
But following the arrival of Harry Maguire from Leicester City in a record-breaking deal, the Norwegian has decided to use Victor Lindelof to partner the 26-year-old Maguire in the heart of United’s defense. The Red Devils already sold Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan and Alexis Sanchez joined the same Italian club on a loan deal and it seems that Smalling will follow the similar country but will join capital side AS Roma instead.
Solskajer spoke at a press conference on Friday to explain why Smalling was set to leave on loan as Roma have agreed on terms with United, “It’s just come up the last couple of days, this opportunity for Chris. Of course, we sat down yesterday and discussed it. At the moment we’ve got six fit center-backs. I couldn’t promise Chris regular football. He’s on the plane over now and I think he’ll enjoy the experience over there.”
Smalling still has three years left on his United contract and Roma have not really got the option to purchase the center back which means that he could return to Old Trafford in the near future.
