24-year-old Netherlands midfielder Kevin Strootman has dented EPL giants Manchester United’s hopes of signing him in the winter transfer window after the Dutchman had disclosed his admiration towards 10 time European Champions Real Madrid and their arch-rivals Barcelona.
The AS Roma midfielder was linked with the Red Devils since David Moyes’ tenure as the manager of the Red Devils. But those attempts were stumped after Kevin Strootman was out of action for nine months owing to a knee ligament damage which also saw him miss out the 2014 FIFA World Cup that took place in Brazil.
The transfer talk of Strootman to Old Trafford became stronger after the 20 time Premier League champions appointed Louis Van Gaal as their manager at the start of the season. Van Gaal was also the coach of the Dutch side that finished fourth in the World Cup and he wanted to build a team around Kevin Strootman as he planned to do with Netherlands.
Although Roma have attempted to demoralize Manchester United’s move for Kevin Strootman by repeatedly declaring that 24-year-old is not for sale. Even the player himself has also dashed United’s hope of signing him as he clarified that he’s happy at the Serie A side – for now.
“I absolutely do not see Roma as just an intermediate step in my career. But I do think a player who performs well here will get to the absolute top quicker,” he told Dutch magazine Voetbal International.
Kevin Strootman on his interest in moving to Spain
The former Sparta Rotterdam, Utrecht and PSV Eindhoven player also revealed that he is interested in moving to Barcelona or Real Madrid.
“Of course everybody wants to play for Barcelona or Real Madrid, but they don’t come looking for you in Netherlands (Eredivisie). There are odd exceptions, but in general their scouts tend to look around at higher levels.” he added.
With Barcelona banned from transfers till 2016, in all likelihood Kevin Strootman’s likely destination will be Real Madrid where he will join the midfield that has the likes of German Toni Kroos, Croat Luka Modric, Colombian James Rodriguez along with a bunch Spanish midfielders which includes promising Isco.