CEO names underrated gem as one of his best ever bargains, Man Utd sold him for just £3.6 million

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Manchester United have not always bought and sold well in recent seasons, frequently cashing in on players too late, or not at all.

Look at the farcical transactions which saw Manchester United sign Paul Pogba for £89 million in 2016, a player who left on a free in 2012, before letting him leave for free again in 2022.

Giuseppe Marotta was the CEO at Juventus who signed Pogba, and in a new interview with TMW he describes the original deal to sign the Frenchman as ‘complicated’.

While this deal was great for Juventus, it is a more underrated deal which Marotta is most proud of, also involving another former Manchester United star.

Marotta hails Matteo Darmian

Now at Inter Milan, Giuseppe Marotta singled out underrated defender Matteo Darmian as the deal he is most proud of.

Here is a reminder of the transactions which took him to Manchester United, and then back to Inter Milan.

• 2015: Manchester United sign Matteo Darmian from Torino for £12.7 million.
• 2019: Parma sign Matteo Darmian from Manchester United for £3.6 million.
• 2020: Inter sign Matteo Darmian from Torino for £1.8 million.

Marotta picked out Inter’s acquisition of Darmian as a deal he is particularly proud of, and believes the Italian defender deserves some credit.

He explained: “One of our players today, Matteo Darmian. He is a boy that Ausilio and I bought for very little money and today he is worth much, much more than what we paid for him. He is one of those who I respect him more for his seriousness, ability and values.

“Little by little he has demonstrated his value without the newspapers and television giving him much space.”

Darmian has proven himself

Matteo Darmian, 33, has now played 134 games for Inter Milan, far more than the 92 matches he played for Manchester United.

The defender was signed by Louis van Gaal, but fell out of favour under Jose Mourinho and was not part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s plans either.

At Inter, he has been revitalised, winning the Serie A title, two Coppa Italias, and reached the Champions League final last season.

He is a top professional who Manchester United might have been able to get more out of, but the constant managerial changes and lack of consistency in selection saw him fall through the cracks and become expendable, with his value dropping.

When he signed for Parma, most expected Darmian to fade into obscurity, however, he quickly proved his quality, earning a move to Inter, and has re-established himself as a regular at international level with Italy too.