United facing £9.1m loss as Darmian joins Parma

Manchester United have taken another financial hit after allowing defender Matteo Darmian to return to Italy, where he has signed a four-year contract with Parma.

United had been looking to sell Darmian for more than a year, but could not find a buyer willing to match their asking price 12 months ago and have been forced to accept a far lower offer to remove the 29-year-old from the wage bill.

Parma are understood to have paid around £3.6 million for the full-back, who joined United for a reported £12.7million from Torino in July 2015.

A loss of £9.1million on a player who was given a contract extension in January to increase his value in the transfer market is further proof of the club’s confused and disjointed recruitment strategy.

That has been partly caused by the fact United have their fourth permanent manager since 2014, with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho all demanding different types of players to fit their preferred style of play, but the handling of Darmian’s exit does not reflect well on their transfer operation.

Darmian made 92 appearances for United and helped them win the FA Cup in his first season in England. But his influence was gradually reduced by Mourinho and he had played only 13 games for the club since December 2017.

The Italy international’s exit completes a ruthless clear-out of the squad by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has sold Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan for £74 million, with Alexis Sanchez also joining the Italian club on loan for the season.

Defender Chris Smalling has left for Roma on loan, although Argentina defender Marcos Rojo – who had his contract extended to 2021 in March last year – remains at the club, with suitors apparently scared off by his wage demands.

Paul Pogba, meanwhile, has pulled out of the France squad for the upcoming games against Albania and Andorra, because of the ankle injury he suffered playing for United in the 1-1 draw against Southampton on Saturday. He has been replaced by Arsenal’s Matteo Guendouzi, who receives his first senior call-up.