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.
Chris Smalling has no interest in joining NewcastleCredit: Alamy Live News
He shone in Serie A as he made 30 league appearances and even managed three goals and two assists.
His form 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.
But he is desperate to join Roma full-time and is even willing to take a pay cut to make that happen.
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.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
