Roma boss Jose Mourinho is weighing up a double January raid on Manchester United and Arsenal, and the details of their proposed bid for Diogo Dalot have been revealed.
A recent report from the Mirror highlighted Mourinho’s desire to land Portuguese full-back Dalot. Mourinho signed the 22-year-old during his stint in charge at Old Trafford. However, in the years following his arrival, Dalot has failed to attain a starting spot ahead of Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Dalot impressed on loan with AC Milan last season and drew links with a permanent switch to Serie A over the summer.
Kieran Trippier was believed to be on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s radar to give Wan-Bissaka stiff competition. But once the proposed deal with Atletico fell through, United had no desire to move Dalot on.
However, regular game-time for Dalot remains in desperately short supply. As such, speculation linking him with an exit once more has ramped up ahead of the winter window.
Now, Goal (citing Italian publication Corriere dello Sport) have reaffirmed Roma’s desire to land Dalot. They’re described as ‘optimistic’ of finalising an initial loan deal and the details of their mooted bid have been revealed.
The Italian side will reportedly offer a ‘€1.5 million fee up front‘ to sanction a loan. That would then include a ‘€15m (£13m)’ option to buy once the loan concludes which could activate depending on appearance targets being met.
But according to the report, Dalot is not the only Premier League star in Mourinho’s sights.
A move for former target Granit Xhaka is once again touted. The Swiss midfielder looked a certainty to sign with Roma over the summer, though the finances of a deal could not be ironed out.
While details of a new Xhaka approach are scarce in the article, they stress the 29-year-old was Mourinho’s ‘first choice’ in the summer and a renewed push to sign him cannot be ‘excluded’.
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Meanwhile, Manchester United are poised to solve two issues in one fell swoop after reaching an unusual decision on what to do with Dean Henderson in January, per a report.
The Manchester United goalkeeper, 24, has taken a back seat this year through no fault of his own. Henderson was given an extended run between the sticks last year as his selection battle with David de Gea ramped up. However, his recovery after contracting Covid-19 over the summer was slower than expected.
That led to De Gea taking the gloves to start the season and a series of inspired displays have seen the Spaniard cement his No 1 spot even after Henderson returned.
A player of his undoubted talents is too good to waste away on the bench. And per the Sun, the Red Devils have reached that same conclusion.
The newspaper report United will take the unusual step of sanctioning an 18-month loan for Henderson in January.
The lengthy spell away will serve two purposes. Firstly, Henderson will be given an extended run of matches to continue his development elsewhere. Secondly, it will remove the persistent debate about who should be United’s No 1 stopper from the equation.
Given Henderson’s stellar form at both Sheffield United and Man Utd in recent seasons, common sense would dictate there will be no shortage of top flight suitors. Indeed, cash-rich Newcastle were recently linked and are again namechecked in the Sun’s report.
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Steve Pearson
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