Manchester United in advanced transfer talks to sign Roma’s Sergio Romero
Manchester United supporters were left bemused when the club’s pre-season tour squad was announced last Monday afternoon. The expected names of new signings Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin were on the list as was the rather more surprising inclusion of goalkeeper David de Gea, whom many thought would be in Australia with Real Madrid by now.
However, the real surprise came with the news that Victor Valdes had not been selected to travel to the US.
Supporters struggled to understand such a decision and following comments made by Valdes’ agent last week it appeared that the former Barcelona man was set to stay at United.
However, new information came to light courtesy of Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio with Manchester United now battling AS Roma to sign free-agent Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero leaving Valdes’ Old Trafford future in doubt.
The Spanish stopper who was expected to challenge for the club’s number one jersey this season if De Gea departed, appears to be heading out of Old Trafford with only one first-team start to his name with Valencia a possible destination as Manchester United still attempt to structure a deal to sign Argentine centre-half Nicolas Otamendi.
Romero is a goalkeeper Van Gaal knows well having worked closely with him during their spell together with AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands. Van Gaal and Romero are known to have a strong relationship with the Dutch coach even jokingly suggesting he taught Romero ‘how to save penalties’ following the Netherlands’ elimination from last summer’s World Cup at the hands of Romero’s Argentina in a shoot-out.
Romero is a keeper who has interested United for quite a while. As recently as last summer Van Gaal had both Romero and Keylor Navas down as transfer targets with the coach not yet convinced by De Gea prior to the season kicking-off.
At 28-years-old and as a free-agent this would represent a shrewd move by United. It has been made clear to Romero that he would be used as a number two goalkeeper at United but that isn’t thought to be too much of an issue despite Roma’s offer of a two-year contract.
Romero’s goalkeeping style is somewhat unique. Like Navas he is athletic and able to get into positions most goalkeepers wouldn’t in order to make a save. However there is an erratic side to his game which comes from a lack of concentration. Often Romero is caught out by shots from distance or counter-attacks due to a lack of complete focus over the course of the game.
This is something that is very difficult to train into a player and given the speed of the Premier League, this could be a potential red-flag. His height at 6ft 3in is an advantage however and his ability to dominate his penalty area is something that is required in the Premier League.
Romero would represent a safe pair of hands as a backup keeper however if De Gea was indeed to leave from this point, along with Valdes, then the vast majority of United fans would want to see another keeper brought in, and with fair reason.
Romero’s distribution from the back is one of his strong points and his good relationship formed with both Marcos Rojo and Nicolas Otamendi with the Argentine national team could be encouraging for Van Gaal.
United are believed to be willing to offer Romero a net salary of £1.3m as opposed to the £950k reportedly on the table from the Italian giants.
Manchester United’s goalkeeping situation is now likely to be the saga of the summer with the majority of United’s business complete. Van Gaal is believed to now be targeting a centre-half and a forward player and unless there are any major departures it is difficult to see the need for further incomings in other positions.
Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2015/07/19/manchester-united-in-advanced-transfer-talks-to-sign-romas-sergio-romero-5296850/#ixzz3gLomrxpT