Romano drops Barcelona bomb on Man Utd flop Amrabat

Tom Weber

1 Mar 2024 09:11 CST
4 min read

Fabrizio Romano, Sofyan Amrabat — © IMAGO

Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Manchester United rejected two January approaches for loanee Sofyan Amrabat.

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The Moroccan has gone from hero to zero pretty fast. A star at the 2022 World Cup, Amrabat was keen to take the next step in his career last summer, informing Fiorentina of his desire to leave.

One of Erik ten Hag's priority targets, Man Utd spent the entire summer chasing the 27-year-old before eventually managing to reunite the coach with his former Utrecht protégé on Deadline Day. The Red Devils parted with a €10 million loan fee and have a €20m option to make the deal permanent, but it seems unlikely that this will materialise.

Amrabat has been a major disappointment so far at Old Trafford and it has been frequently reported that the Red Devils will not sign him in the summer. However, according to Fabrizio Romano, a final decision has not yet been made and he also revealed that two clubs tried to get Man Utd to cut his loan short in the winter.

Barcelona, Juventus keen

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the Italian transfer expert claimed that Barcelona and Juventus approached Man Utd and Fiorentina in January with the intention of taking Amrabat on loan, the Bianconeri likely doing so in their bid to find a replacement for the now-banned Paul Pogba.

"Man Utd have not informed both sides about their decision on Amrabat, so it will be made later this year [and the situation] remains open," Romano said on Amrabat's future.

"What's important to say on Sofyan Amrabat is that in January two clubs asked about the possibility to break the loan of Amrabat from Fiorentina to Man Utd and sign Amrabat on a new loan for the January transfer window until the end of the season."

"The two clubs were, from what I heard, Juventus - Juventus asked for information on Amrabat, but for Fiorentina and Man Utd it was a 'no' - and the same for Barcelona, who already wanted Amrabat one year ago, [they] asked about the possibility to return for Sofyan Amrabat in January, but it was again a 'no' from Man Utd. No intention to break that loan."