£75m Man Utd target rejects transfer talk and says renewal is close

Milan Skriniar TEAMtalk

Milan Skriniar has dashed any hopes Manchester United had of signing him and revealed he is close to extending his contract with Inter Milan.

The Slovakia centre-back is coveted all over Europe and we revealed in March that Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea all had their scouts present in Cardiff when Slovakia took on Wales.

The 24-year-old has emerged as one of Serie A’s stand-out performers this season, and he was a target for Jose Mourinho last summer at Old Trafford.

More recently the Manchester Evening News claimed United were still interested in signing either Kalidou Koulibaly or Skriniar this summer to help address their defensive issues. Club chiefs apparently accepting it may take breaking the world transfer record of £75million for a defender in order to sign one of the duo.

Their hopes though look to be in tatters, despite Ole Gunnar Solskajer claiming they can still attract the big names, with Skriniar suggesting a renewal with Inter is close.

He told DAZN: “How much is missing for the renewal? Very little. I want to continue with Inter, I think my future is here. If I rejected Real Madrid? I don’t know where this rumour came from.

“Champions League? If we win three of the four remaining games, we will be there. We must start with a win against Udinese, which will be an important game for both sides.”

Skriniar, whose current deal expires in 2022, was tipped to pen a two-year extension on wages of £60,000 a week by the Daily Mirror last month.

Asked about being possibly taking the Inter captaincy, he said: “The captain’s armband? I don’t think about it, I just think about playing. It doesn’t mean that with the captain’s armband you change anything, there’s an extra responsibility.

“Toughest striker I’ve faced? There are many and different players. Ronaldo, for example, is very fast. Then there are strikers who fight for every ball. This year, perhaps Dzeko has been the most difficult.”