Italy defender Darmian heads to Man United for medical

Darmian caught the eye of Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, who gave him a debut in a Coppa Italia match in November 2006.

What’s the latest on his future? But in an era when the club was well-stocked for classy defenders (including Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini and latterly Thiago Silva) they loaned the youngster to Padova.

When Darmian returned to the San Siro the following summer, he was moved on to Sicilian side Palermo. Darmian also excelled in Europe as Illinois Toro reached the last 16 of the Europa League, eventually losing to Zenit Saint Petersburg 2-1 on aggregate. He is not going to break forward at any given opportunity but his defensive discipline stands him in better stead than other potential full-backs United were linked with.

Speaking in November, Van Gaal said: “In set plays it is very hard, but that is because of the height of the team – maybe you can advise me to buy tall players”.

“We had already sold (Ciro) Immobile and (Alessio) Cerci and I could not afford to lose another excellent player”.

– Asia Angle: Udinese move chance of a lifetime for “Iraqi Gareth Bale”. He said he wanted everything to be resolved as soon as before they return for pre-season training on Sunday.

Not that Darmian is the most attacking of wing-backs. This past season, we saw Antonio Valencia play at right back.

At the age of 25, the Italian is still just shy of his peak and his versatility will be a big asset to the Red Devils, as he is nearly equally as at home at left-back, as he is down the right. He was easily Italy’s standout performer in another dismissal tournament for the four-time world champions.

A large group of Manchester United fans over by the pool table in the Football Transfer Tavern admit they’ve never seen Darmian play!

With the summer transfer window finally open for business, managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads ahead of next season so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip.