Reports in Italy claim that our Italian right-back Matteo Darmian has agreed to join Serie A giants Inter Milan in the January transfer window. It was reported in the summer that Darmian rejected an offer from Inter Milan preferring to stay with Manchester United and fight for his place.
Italian website Calciomercato claims that Inter have already reached an agreement with Darmian, but the latest injury situation at United had put the potential January transfer in doubt.
The 26-year-old failed to feature for us in the earlier stages of the season as manager Jose Mourinho preferred make-shift right-back Antonio Valencia in his starting eleven. It was strongly suggested that Mourinho doesn’t rate the Italian and he will be sold in January. Although Calciomercato who are reporting the story are not overly reliable, but even Online Soccer odds sites are beginning to shorten odds of the Italian leaving Manchester United this winter. The reports of a deal already been agreed may be way off the mark but it won’t surprise me in the least if his agent has been hawking him around due to the lack of playing time.
However, the situation has changed following Valencia’s arm-injury. Darmian has played 90 minutes in each of our last two league games. In the win against Swansea, he slotted in the left-back role in the absence of injured Luke Shaw while Ashley Young filled in the right-back spot.
The recent developments have made Mourinho re-think his stance on the Italian, and the report claims that we have blocked his move for now.
Last week, ahead of the Europa League clash with Fenerbahce, Mourinho confirmed that Darmian remains a part of his plans very much. He said: “[Valencia has] an important fracture in his arm and an important surgery too.
“He’s going to be out for a while, but the main thing is that even when Antonio was playing very well, we were preparing Darmian, and Darmian was having matches.
“He was playing against Feyenoord, Zorya and Fenerbahce. He was having minutes.
“When in the last match we had to play Darmian for the first time in the Premier League he was ready.
“To answer the way he did it [was good] playing really well in the last match against Burnley.
“He’s ready to play tomorrow and to give continuity of the good work our right-backs are doing in both competitions.”
In a recent interview, Darmian who reportedly earns £60,000 a week with Manchester United also dismissed the rumours that Mourinho wants to sell him in January. He said: “I’ve read things like that, but I don’t think it’s true.
“I keep going on my way, working to improve and to give the coach a selection headache. I’m not thinking about the transfer market. It’s still too early.”
Well, it appears that Darmian will be staying at the club. For now!
I don’t think he has a long-term future at the club under Mourinho, but it would be foolish to sell him in January without buying a proper replacement. He is a versatile player and can fill in both full-back spots. There is no doubt that he could prove to be a useful asset this season.
However, the recent reports suggest that Valencia could be back for our game against Tottenham next month.
It will be interesting to see whether Darmian manages to convince Mourinho of his credentials before Valencia returns to full fitness.
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