Man Utd star given ultimate Solskjaer snub as latest offer falls well short

Chris Smalling has been forced to train alone and his future remains very much in doubt after Roma’s latest bid to sign him was rejected.

The Manchester United defender spent the 2019/20 season on loan in the Italian capital and proved a big success.

However, Roma’s attempts to sign Smalling on a permanent basis have proven difficult.

Another Italian side, Inter Milan, have shown interest in the player since, potentially offering United a winger in a swap deal.

The defender is keen to return to Roma, though, and has also turned down offers from other Premier League clubs to do so.

However, Roma are yet to meet United’s asking price for the 30-year-old. That has led to claims that Smalling could be angry at his parent club.

According to the Daily Telegraph, United are standing strong in their £25m demands for Smalling. That is way beyond what Roma are prepared to pay for the centre-half.

Earlier this month, they made an opening bid said to be worth £11m. That has since been raised to nearer the £14m mark. But it seems United are unmoved and are not willing to lower their asking price.

With Smalling now in limbo, the paper reports he has now been given the ultimate snub by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. United’s first-team squad are down in Luton preparing for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup clash. However, with Smalling not part of their plans, he’s been left behind to train alone at Carrington.

Roma manager Paulo Fonseca said last week he remains positive that Smalling will still end up signing.

“I’m confident,” Fonseca said. “We’re working to get Smalling here.

“I’m in contact with him, I spoke to him yesterday.

“He wants to be here and we want him here. He could join us in the next few days.”

• READ MORE: Everton stonewall Man Utd by demanding £80m for star

Wright labels £111m United duo ‘not good enough’

Smalling’s situation at United might be befuddle pundit Ian Wright.

That’s after he advised Solskjaer to spend his transfer budget on new defenders this season after naming two current stars not up to the standards required.

Despite their long chase for winger Jadon Sancho, Wright has implied United are wasting their time.

Wright insists United ought to spend their money on strengthening their defence. He thinks Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof simply are not good enough for the Red Devils after they were run ragged by Crystal Palace on Saturday.

And he thinks if United fail to address the issue, teams will continue to exploit this area of weakness.

“I think you look at Maguire and Lindelof, for me you’ve got to target them now as much as you can,” Wright told Premier League Productions.

“People are talking about who Man United might buy, you talk about forwards – at the moment, they’ve got to start focusing on that centre-half pairing.”

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