Neil El Aynaoui to Manchester United: Red Devils alerted as Roma star’s camp signals summer exit
Neil El Aynaoui to Manchester United: Manchester United have been put on high alert. According to El Nacional, AS Roma midfielder Neil El Aynaoui has been offered to the Old Trafford club, with his representatives actively testing the waters in the Premier League. The 25-year-old’s camp is convinced a deal can be struck this summer if the Italians receive a decent bid. United aren’t alone, though. Far from it. TEAMtalk indicates that agents have already touched base with Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Brighton, Bournemouth, Newcastle, and even Sunderland. It is a congested race. Yet, United’s need for a midfield anchor is glaring.
Casemiro’s exit left a massive hole right in the middle of Michael Carrick’s engine room. To make matters worse, the pursuit of Mateus Fernandes went up in smoke when Tottenham hijacked the deal. Ederson arrived, sure, but the recruitment team knows they are still short on bodies. On paper, El Aynaoui checks a lot of boxes.
He is a right-footed, 1.85m central midfielder who can screen the back four and drive forward with the ball. Transfermarkt valued him at around £20 million back in May, but dealing with Roma won’t be a walk in the park. He signed a five-year contract when he moved to Italy from Lens last July, tying him to the Stadio Olimpico until June 2030.
What we know so far about the Moroccan midfielder
His first year in Serie A was strange. Under Gian Piero Gasperini, El Aynaoui managed just 988 minutes across 25 league outings, chipping in with a solitary goal and two assists. He started a mere eight games. Mostly, he was a super-sub. Four yellow cards show he possesses a bit of nastiness, though he didn’t always channel it properly.
Roma ended up third, securing Champions League football, which means Gasperini is under zero pressure to sell. Still, a player who started less than a quarter of your league games and wants out gives any buying club a decent bit of leverage. His camp wants a guaranteed starting role. That desire has caught the attention of several English scouts.
It was the World Cup that really changed the conversation. Dropped into the Morocco midfield next to teenage prodigy Ayyoub Bouaddi, the Roma man looked sensational. Displays against heavyweight sides like Brazil and the Netherlands had European scouts scribbling furiously in their notebooks. His tactical intelligence caught the eye.
He reads the space between lines, cuts off passing lanes, and stays completely cool under a heavy press. Real Madrid and Barcelona actually checked in on him earlier this year after his AFCON performances. He even played through a nasty eye injury in the AFCON final before making the 26-man World Cup squad in May.
Read: Manchester United are keeping close eye on £45m star after World Cup exploits
Football is in his blood, though in a different shape. He is the son of former Moroccan tennis champion Younes El Aynaoui. Neil learned his trade in Nancy’s academy, turned professional in June 2021, and eventually scored eight goals for Lens in Ligue 1 before Roma bought him. United’s scouts have tracked that exact trajectory. Now, the ball is entirely in INEOS’s court.
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