United’s attempts to play hardball backfired
Amidst the chaos of a drama-filled transfer deadline day at Old Trafford last week, you might easily have missed the news that Sergio Romero’s eleventh-hour move from Manchester United to Everton had collapsed- much to the annoyance of the player and his wife.
The Argentine goalkeeper has slipped to third choice in the pecking order at Old Trafford following the return of Dean Henderson, and a transfer elsewhere seemed inevitable before the close of the window. However, despite strong interest from Goodison Park and elsewhere, Romero stayed put in Manchester.
Though the finer details of what happened – or didn’t happen – have remained a mystery for the past week, David Ornstein has now shed some light on the doomed move.
Writing in The Athletic, Ornstein says Everton were willing to take Romero on a season-long loan from United, covering the entirety of his £100,000-a-week wage packet and throwing in a £2m loan fee on top. United knocked back the offer, holding out for a one-off fee of £8m to take Romero, who is now in the final year of his contract at United, on a permanent basis.
Romero has since been left out of United’s Champions League squad, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer naming veteran Lee Grant as his third-choice goalkeeper for the competition.
His hopes of an imminent departure from United are not completely dead, with reports claiming he is giving serious consideration to a move to Major League Soccer. No details of any particular club have emerged yet, but MLS sides are permitted to sign new players until later this month.
Should Romero not complete a move elsewhere, United risk him leaving on a free at the end of the season – this while continuing to pay his wages until the expiration of his contract.
