Jose Mourinho says Matteo Darmian will stay at Manchester United despite the defender announcing his intention to leave.
Italy international Darmian has been linked with a return to Serie A, but with the league’s transfer window closing on Friday a deal has not materialised.
Darmian started United’s first Premier League game of the season and is in line to continue in Mourinho’s side as Antonio Valencia is not fit enough to play despite returning to full training.
And Mourinho indicated Darmian will remain a United player regardless of Valencia’s return, as well as the signing of teenager Diego Dalot likely limiting his minutes on the pitch this season.
“He cannot have any bad feeling towards us because we opened the door for him in case his desire was to go. But for me, it’s good news that Matteo is staying.
“He’s always an option, a reliable player. We know his performance level is that one. We know he always does a job for the team. Right-back, left-back, starting, on the bench. He’s a fantastic professional.
Jesse Lingard and Nemanja Matic are back in full training, along with Valencia, but Sunday’s game at Brighton will come too soon for the midfield duo.
“Our training has been really, really good all week and we go [to Brighton] to win, obviously,” said Mourinho. “That is our main objective.” Although he started his career as a centre-back, and has occasionally continued to be used in this role, in recent years Darmian has predominantly played as a full-back or wing-back; due to his ability with both feet, he is capable of playing on either flank, although he prefers to be deployed on the right side of the pitch.
An intelligent, dynamic, hard-working, and versatile player, he is known for his good quality of offensive and defensive play, as well as his tactical awareness, pace, and stamina, attributes which allow him to cover the wing effectively and provide width to his team when attacking; his professionalism, as well as his promising and consistent performances in his youth, led him to be compared to several esteemed Italian former full-backs, such as Antonio Cabrini and Paolo Maldini. During the 2012–13 season, Darmian made the most tackles per game (5.3) across Europe’s top five leagues.[