Man Utd defender Chris Smalling snubs £20m transfer move to Newcastle with Roma and Juventus still keen on defender
CHRIS SMALLING reportedly has “no interest” in joining Newcastle this summer.
The defender was deemed surplus to requirements by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last summer and was shipped off to Roma on a season-long loan.
He shone in Serie A and made 30 league appearances and even managed three goals and two assists.
His defending also saw him dubbed “Smalldini” in reference to Italian legend Paolo Maldini.
Roma are desperate to keep the former Fulham man, who will miss out on their Europa League quest this month, but have been put off by United’s £20m asking price.
Juventus have also been linked with a swoop for Smalling.
This weekend it was claimed Newcastle boss Steve Bruce had made the star his No1 transfer target.
However, the Daily Mail claims the ace has zero intentions of moving to the North East.
Smalling still has two years left on his £120,000-a-week contract at Old Trafford.
Earlier this week it emerged that the centre-back is desperate to join Roma full-time.
And he is even willing to take a pay cut to make that happen.
MAN UTD NEWS LIVE: Click here for the latest United news
Most read in Football
Inter Milan are another Serie A club keen on bringing Smalling back to Italy.
Their boss Anotonio Conte has already raised the Red Devils for Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Ashley Young over the past year.
Now he appears to want Smalling to join his old united team-mates at the San Siro.