Oranje star has been tracked by the Red Devils ever since last summer.
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Premier League champions Manchester United have stepped up their efforts to sign highly rated AS Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman after the Serie A outfit indicated that they would now be interested in offloading the Dutchman in the January transfer window in order to help generate much-needed funds so as to reduce the club’s mounting debt.
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United head coach David Moyes has been keeping close tabs on Strootman ever since the Scot took over from former Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson in the Old Trafford hot seat at the end of the previous campaign.
Moyes is understood to have been a huge fan of the 23-year-old’s since his time in charge of Everton and made the acquisition of the Netherlands international one of his main priorities after first arriving at the Theatre of Dreams last summer, only for Strootman to then almost immediately leave Eredivisie giants PSV Eindhoven for Roma in a deal worth an initial €17m, although which could ultimately rise to as much as €19m.
As a result, Moyes was then forced to switch his midfield focus elsewhere in the previous transfer window, with Belgium international Marouane Fellaini signed instead from former club Everton for £27.5m
However, with the big-haired midfielder having struggled badly for both form and confidence since arriving in the north west, and now on the sidelines with a long-term wrist injury, Moyes has reluctantly been forced back into the transfer market this month as the champions’ Premier League struggles continue.
Initially, Moyes had given up all hope of being able to sign Strootman with the player having only arrived in the Italian capital at the beginning of this campaign, but that was before the Giallorossa let it be known that they would now consider suitable offers for their new recruit in January as they seek to wipe out a large chunk of the club’s sizeable debt.
Strootman has so far managed to register an impressive four goals and five assists in total in his 17 Serie A outings for the in-form Romans and with a contract at the Stadio Olimpico that runs until June 2018, Roma are thought to be seeking a fee in excess of £25m for their prize midfielder.
And with Moyes armed with a massive £200m transfer war chest this month from the club’s American owners the Glazer family, Strootman is expected to be one of a number of new faces through the door at United in January.