BREAKING NEWS: Manchester United outcast Smalling joins Roma on loan

Roma have signed Chris Smalling on a season-long loan from Manchester United, the Serie A club announced.

Smalling signed a contract extension at Old Trafford running until 2022 last December, three days before then-manager Jose Mourinho was sacked.

The 29-year-old continued to feature under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but the arrival of Harry Maguire during the close season left him down the pecking order at centre-back.

He has consequently opted for a temporary move to Roma, who paid United €3million (£2.7m) to seal the deal.

This is the perfect opportunity for me, Smalling said in a statement.

The chance to experience a new league, with a big team that has got big aspirations is exactly what I needed.

Hopefully I can hit the ground running. I m looking forward to joining up with my team-mates.

Roma sporting director Gianluca Petrachi added: We are pleased to bring a player like Chris, who has so much experience, to Roma. We are convinced he will help the growth of this squad and all the lads he plays alongside.

Official: Chris Smalling has joined Roma on loan

This summer is using transfer announcements to help support charities like and in the search for missing children around the world.

— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN)

Like the similarly long-serving Phil Jones, Smalling has not managed a minute of first-team action this season, with Solskjaer preferring Axel Tuanzebe as back-up to Maguire and Victor Lindelof.

Smalling has 31 caps for England but has not featured since June 2017, having fallen out of favour with national team boss Gareth Southgate.

Roma shared a thrilling 3-3 draw with Genoa on the opening weekend of the Serie A season.

Smalling was identified as the man to shore up a Roma defence shorn of the influential Kostas Manolas, who joined Napoli ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.

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