Manchester United Transfer News: Marcos Rojo Agent Reacts to Napoli Rumours
Marcos Rojo's agent has rubbished rumours linking the Manchester United defender with a January move to Serie A club Napoli.
Recent reports had suggested that Napoli were eying the Argentine and were planning to make an imminent move for Rojo, per Italian outlet Rai Sport (h/t the Daily Star's Marc Williams).
However, Rojo's representative, Carlos Goncalves, has now insisted that the 25-year-old will be staying at Old Trafford, per a Naples radio station (via talkSPORT): "There is no need to talk about it. The player is happy at United and has no intention of leaving the club."
Rojo has been out of favour with Red Devils manager Louis van Gaal recently. As noted by Williams, the Dutchman was irked by Rojo not turning up for United's pre-season tour of America in the summer after he failed to renew his passport.
As a result, he was only handed his first Premier League start of the new season against Southampton on Sunday, a match during which he limped off injured in the second half.
In the aftermath Van Gaal has again criticised his defender, this time for not revealing his injury to the United staff, per Jeremy Cross in the Daily Star: "Marcos Rojo is not ready to play. It's not so nice that we have three defenders injured. I thought we were right on time for Rojo because we changed him in the game. He didn't warn us that he was injured. He has a hamstring injury."
However, despite the clearly strained relations between Rojo and Van Gaal, it is no surprise that a January exit is not on the cards.
Rojo will be essential in the United squad in the coming months to deputise for the injured left-back Luke Shaw, who has been sidelined for six months following a horrendous double leg-break suffered against PSV Eindhoven, per the Guardian's Jamie Jackson.
Rojo will either be utilised as a direct left-back replacement or as a centre-back, with Daley Blind moving out wide, but he will definitely be needed in Shaw's absence, per football writer Sam Pilger:
While Van Gaal has bemoaned his lack of defensive options, he is arguably the one to blame having not added the necessary strength to the back four during the summer transfer window.
That is an area he needs to address when the January window opens, but he is unlikely to let any defenders go, especially not the versatile Rojo.
