da casino： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
da luck： Chris Smalling has been ridiculed a little bit on Twitter this week.
The centre-back gave away a last-minute penalty for Roma in the Europa League on Thursday, but recent reports from Gianluca Di Marzio indicate that he’s actually having a fruitful spell in Rome.
What’s the story then?
After just two months of playing for the Serie A side, AS Roma apparently already want to make their loan deal for Smalling a permanent one.
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The article describes Smalling as “Always among the best in the field and the leader of a defense that has found stability and compactness with [Gianluca] Mancini.”
After years of being panned by his own fans it’s interesting to see Smalling described in such a way, but following these supposedly incredible performances for Roma, Manchester United have a decision to make.
Don’t decide yet
United would be foolish to call it quits on Smalling’s Old Trafford career now.
With the centre-back impressing over in Italy, surely he’s worth another go if he keeps this up.
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Ok, he’s only played four league games, and even the biggest Smalling sceptic will tell you that he’s capable of hitting form, but if this truly is the beginning of a resurgence, then United shouldn’t think about selling him just yet.
The report states that Roma will try to meet with United in the next few weeks to discuss his transfer, but the Red Devils should hold off these types of negotiations until the end of the season where they can fully assess whether or not he has the ability to be an asset in the Premier League.
After all, United have conceded on average one goal per game in the Premier League this season, and former boss Jose Mourinho has identified aerial quality as one of Victor Lindelof’s key weaknesses – Smalling, meanwhile, has won almost six aerial duels per game in Serie A.
Perhaps he can still have a role to play at Old Trafford.