Manchester United face a transfer upset as their defensive target Milan Skriniar has revealed his desire to remain at Inter Milan.
According to a report published by an English bublication The Sun, Milan Skriniar spoke about his decision to stay at Inter Milan “I am very happy with the way we finished off the season, I don’t know about any offers, but I want to stay at Inter.” Skriniar said. Hence giving a transfer blow to Manchester United, who were targeting to land him at the Old Trafford in this summer window.
Milan Skriniar moved to Inter Milan from Sampdoria last year and enjoyed a successful debut season at San Siro. He is now regarded as an integral part of the defence at Inter Milan, averaging 2.3 tackles per game, after making 44 appearances across all competitions last season.
His contributions were significant for Inter Milan to qualify for the Champions League next season, ending Nerazzurri‘s six-year long absence from the competition. His performances have rightly aroused the interest of several clubs in Europe, with Manchester United one of them.
Manchester United are pursuing the 23-year-old as Eric Bailly had a brilliant maiden season at Manchester United and was the first-choice up until his injury. After that, the Ivory Coast international has struggled to regain his place in the starting eleven since returning from injury.
Victor Lindelof was thought to be the long-term partner for Eric Bailly. But, both of them failed to start together regularly. Phil Jones and Chris Smalling were starting ahead of the pair by the end of the season, therefore Jose Mourinho regards Skriniar as a viable upgrade to his defence.
Presently, Manchester United have confirmed the signing of right-back Diogo Dalot from Porto and central midfielder Fred from Shakhtar a few weeks ago. Although, they don’t seem to be done in the window and would try to amend their defensive concerns.
Manchester United reportedly made a bid of £57 million, which was shot down by the Inter Milan, with the Serie A giants not interested in any offer less than £70 million for the Slovakian international.
According to further claims by The Sun, Skriniar last week revealed to the Slovakian national team’s website that there was interest from Manchester United.
“I’m glad they’re (Manchester United) interested in me, but Inter decided on how they decided, so I cannot say anything more about it. I am however satisfied.” Skriniar said.
Therefore, it is certain that Manchester United have to look towards alternate targets to fortify their backline after failing in the pursuit of their priority target, with Skriniar determined to continue serving Inter Milan.
