Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman has dropped hints that he is not keen to push for a move to Manchester United or any other club in the January transfer window.
Speculations are rife about Strootman’s future with several British newspapers reporting that Manchester United are certain to lodge a bid for the Dutch midfielder, either in summer or in January transfer window, but the Roma midfielder has remained tight-lipped on his future so far.
James Ducker of The Times mentioned that Manchester United are expected to lodge a bid for Strootman in the summer, while Mark Ogden of The Telegraph hinted that United could make a move for him in January, should Roma fail to progress beyond the group stages in the Champions League.
Roma officials have time and again stated that the midfielder is simply not up for sale, while James Pallotta, the Roma owner made it clear that any potential buyer will have to pay around €80m for his services.
“It is just not happening,” Roma’s billionaire owner told BBC Sport at the Leaders in Football Conference.
“I have told the papers that they should stop wasting paper. We don’t have any interest in selling Kevin.”
“If United wants to talk, we will sit down and listen to them. Yet even with a bid of €80 million, we will not agree,” he added.
Strootman, who remained out of media attentions all this time, said he is focussed on making a strong impression in the second half of the season with Roma and is looking forward to returning back to his homeland where the Giallorossi were drawn against Feyenoord in the Europa League last 32.
“I’m really looking forward to play the two matches against Feyenoord in February. They are a young and talented team and are playing well. In a difficult group they have managed to qualify as group winners, which sums it all up,” said Strootman via Facebook.
Nice to see and compete against my former manager Fred Rutten as well, with whom I’ve worked at PSV Eindhoven for almost two years. With the way Feyenoord is playing now, he proves once again to be a great manager.”
Roma’s general director Mauro Baldissoni has claimed recently that the club’s President is getting irritated over Strootman’s future speculations on a daily basis.
“Our President James Pallotta has already spoken about this and he gets angry with the rumours that link him (Kevin) to Manchester United. Our policy is that of investing in players that have quality but have room for improvement. Kevin is a young player with experience, and we want to build our future with players like him.”
Strootman is under contract with the capital club till 2018 and Baldissoni insists that their prized asset is going nowhere. It seems like Strootman has no intentions of leaving the Serie A giants either.
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