What’s the story?
If reports from The Sun are to be believed, Manchester United right-back Matteo Darmian is on his way back to Italy with Inter Milan being preferred destination. The news agencies have even gone to claim that the player’s fiancee has been house hunting in Milan ahead of the player’s expected move to Inter.
In case you didn’t know
Darmian, who started his career at AC Milan, made his name at Torino, where he spent 4 seasons from 2011 to 2015. During his time at the Turin-based club, Darmian was a regular feature and even made it to the Serie A team of the year on consecutive occasions during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.
Manchester United were so impressed with his performances that they moved in quickly for the Italian right-back in the summer of 2015 and a bid in the region of £12.7 million proved enough to bring him to the Old Trafford. Darmian signed a 4 and a half year contract at the club with an option to extend it for another year.
The heart of the matter
While he did impress during his first season at Old Trafford in bits and patches, he never looked completely settled at Old Trafford and was also deployed as a left-back when needed by his former manager Louis van Gaal.
However, in the current season, the Italian full-back has found game time even harder to come by, especially with Antonio Valencia putting in impressive performances and with the likes of Daley Blind and Luke Shaw showing improved performances at left-back, the Italian has had to look elsewhere in search of playing time.
With the 2018 World Cup approaching, it is important that Darmian keeps playing frequently at the club level to feature in the plans of his international manager Gian Piero Ventura for the approaching competitions.
What next?
Given his current position at the club, it is only a matter of time before Darmian moves away from the club in search of extended playing time. For now, the move has not been made public by any of the parties being mentioned and with the end of the ongoing transfer window approaching, we will have to wait and watch if all the relevant paperwork can be completed in such a short period of time.
Sportskeeda’s take
While there can be very few substitutes for being a Manchester United player, there is often a need to be pragmatic as a footballer these days. Given that he is behind Valencia in the starting line-up, Darmian needs to move and establish himself as a first-choice right-back at another club. With Italian football suiting him perfectly, as is evident from his past record in the League, it makes perfect sense for the Italian right-back to find his new home in the city of Milan.
