Manchester United ace attracting interest from Italy: What should the club’s play here be? | OneFootball

Italian club AS Roma could once again make a move for Chris Smalling, who spent the 2019-20 season on loan at the club.

Smalling returned to Manchester United as the Red Devils as they were not keen to let the defender stay at Roma till the end of the Europa League campaign.

Calciomercato have claimed that the Italian side could sign Smalling after securing new owners. The report further states that the likes of Alessandro Florenzi, Cengiz Under, and Patrik Schick will likely be sold which will give Roma money to spend in the transfer market.

Smalling had a solid season for Roma, playing 37 times for the club in all competitions. He has two years remaining on his current contract at Old Trafford.

What should Manchester United’s play here be?

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recently spoke about Chris Smalling, and praised the 30-year-old defender, hinting that the Englishman could stay at the club next season.

The defender has been at Old Trafford for a decade, having signed with the club in 2010, winning two Premier League titles during his spell.

But, over the last few seasons, Smalling hasn’t been at his best, making costly errors and losing his spot in the starting XI.

The Premier League side have signed the likes of Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire, both of whom are above Smalling in the pecking order. Manchester United should sell Smalling and invest the transfer fees into other signings.

The Red Devils have several options in central defence, but a majority of them are not good enough for the club. Like Smalling, Phil Jones – who was also signed almost ten years ago to be one for the future – hasn’t quite had a great impact.

Jones, along with Marcos Rojo, could be sold by the club. With the likes of Maguire, Lindelof, Eric Bailly, and highly-rated youngster Axel Tuanzebe, all in the squad, Smalling may not get much playing time for the club.

There have also been reports that United are interested in signing a centre-back to partner Maguire, which would push Smalling further down the pecking order. The wise decision for the Red Devils would be to sell Smalling and use those funds elsewhere.