The one area that Manchester United significantly strengthened over the summer was defence. Harry Maguire’s addition was the marquee signing, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka has already proven his quality.
When signings are made it often means that someone has to leave. In this case, it was Chris Smalling’s turn. The Englishman has actually been United’s most consistent defender over the last half-decade, but the fact remains, he’s still not good enough.
Credit to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for having the confidence to let Smalling leave, albeit only on loan. AS Roma are getting a useful player, though, while there are others who probably should have gone before him (Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones definitely spring to mind).
Anyway, upon switching Manchester for Rome, Smalling has penned a classy and emotional message to United and their fans.
Like I said, Smalling has actually done a decent job for the most part. It’s just that inconsistency has often ruined his season’s and it tends to take the Englishman a while to bounce back.
As a squad player, United could certainly do worse, though if Solskjaer cannot find the game time for him it certainly made sense to move him on.
All the best, Chris!
Be the first to comment