Red Rants

Serie A rivals keen on United midfielder

Posted: 01 Aug 2014 01:08 AM PDT

Marouane Fellaini is a wanted man these days, despite a horrible first season at Manchester United, and a couple of Serie A clubs are interested in offering the Belgian a way out of Old Trafford.

According to Belgian radio station RTL, Napoli have been keeping an eye on Fellaini but are reluctant to sign on a permanent basis and would prefer a loan deal, while United are thought to be demanding a fee of £15 for the midfielder, who doesn’t feature in Louis Van Gaal’s plans.

"Fellaini is one of the names on the table, but not the only one," said Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis yesterday, in an interview with an Italian radio station.

The Napoli president claimed that Fellaini would be the perfect midfield partner for Gokhan Inler, though De Laurentiis’ judgement was simply based on the Belgian’s hair style.

“They would make a nice pair," said De Laurentiis

"Fellaini has long hair and the Swiss [Inler] is shaven. Together they have a hairstyle that looks like a lion's mane and three years ago I presented Inler with the mask of a lion!"

Hair styles apart, RTL’s report suggests that now AS Roma have entered the race for Fellaini too and could scupper Napoli’s plans, though De Laurentiis’ club looks to have already agreed a deal in principle with the Belgian but the negotiations are made increasingly complicated by the fact that United are still in the US for their pre-season tour.