Manchester United rejected the opportunity to part ways with loanee Sofyan Amrabat amid interest from Juventus and Barcelona in January.
Amrabat signed for the Red Devils on loan from Fiorentina before the transfer deadline last summer.
United paid a huge loan fee of €10 million for the temporary deal. As part of the move, they agreed an option to buy him for around €20m.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said that United are yet to communicate their final decision on the midfielder, but he is unlikely to join them permanently.
The journalist went on to reveal that Juventus and Barcelona were keen on signing Amrabat in a new loan deal, but United had no desire to break the contract mid-season.
He said: “The two clubs were, from what I heard, Juventus – Juventus asked for information on Amrabat, but for Fiorentina and Man Utd it was a ‘no’.”
“The same for Barcelona, who already wanted Amrabat one year ago, [they] asked about the possibility to return for Sofyan Amrabat in January.
“But it was again a ‘no’ from Man Utd. No intention to break that loan.”
United should have made same decision on Reguilon
Amrabat had a positive start to his United career, but his performances have since faded with his struggles to adapt to the intensity of the Premier League.
As things stand, he has started in only 30 per cent of the club’s games this term and has been limited to cameo appearances off the bench on most occasions.
It is quite clear that he has no future at the club beyond the summer. United took a huge risk by paying a big fee, but they are probably regretting the decision.
They had the chance to break the agreement in January, but decided to keep him in the ranks, considering Casemiro was still injured at the start of the year.
In our view, the club should have done the same thing with Sergio Reguilon, who had a good loan stint from Tottenham Hotspur during the first half of the campaign.
With Luke Shaw’s injury proneness and Tyrell Malacia’s knee injury, it would have made sense for the club to keep the Spaniard instead of breaking the deal in January.
The club now find themselves without a specialist left-back for a key phase in the season. Shaw is out for a few months while Malacia has yet to recover from his knee issues.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
