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Dutchman never on United’s radar?

Kevin StrootmanTalkSport are reporting that Italian sources claim Roma have completed the signing of ‘long-standing Manchester United target’ Kevin Strootman.

The Dutchman, 23, has joined the Serie A club from PSV Eindhoven for a fee in the region of £15.5m.

In the light of the Thiago ‘also an apparent Long Standing United Target with an extremely reasonable buy-out clause who United never actually tabled an official bid for so I presume he wasn’t a target after all’ Alcantara to Bayern Munich case, how can Strootman be labeled in such a way?

This is what TalkSport say about the deal:

Strootman, who has captained Holland at senior level, is believed to have signed a four-year deal worth £1.9m a season.

News of his transfer will represent a blow to the Premier League champions, whose interest in him dated back to early 2012.

United boss David Moyes already lost out to Bayern Munich in the race to sign Thiago Alcantara and he is now pressing ahead with a move for Cesc Fabregas, although it is unclear whether Barcelona are willing to sell the former Arsenal man.

‘Represent a big blow’? Really? How much of a blow will it be to ‘lose’ Thiago? Surely not that much of one if we were never in the race which, until an official bid’s made (and confirmation publicised), we were not despite the raft of reports claiming he had even gone as far as agreeing personal terms with United. (Including us)

And did David Moyes REALLY lose out on him; was he ever even in the race for his signature? Seems, with the benefit of hindsight, that he didn’t want the player in the first place.

Transfer windows are often labelled as ‘Silly Season’ but they rarely come any sillier than this one.

It’s inevitable United will get linked to every central midfielder worth his salt this summer but, if (as many suspect) the Fabregas deal goes tits up, where do United look once Strootman, Thiago and Fabregas opt to ignore the obvious chance to move to Old Trafford?

Wanyama, Cabaye, Vidal? Someone has to want the job, don’t they?

Are you staying positive United can get their man and add Fabregas to its ranks despite reports he wants to stay in Spain? If so, is he the right man to propel United back into Champions League contention?