Congrats on making the final Neal, I expect you to win it now and I know you will
Great update as well!

pompeyblue: Haha thanks bud, I hope we can triumph and bring home another trophy!

The Madridista: Oh my god

Roma reject €20m deadline day bid from Man Utd for defender Mehdi Benatia

The Moroccan defender is currently away at the Africa Cup of Nations

Benatia was reportedly very interesting in making the switch to Old Trafford

Manchester United was unwilling to match Roma's valuation of the player

Deadline day has finally drawn to a close, and, despite heavy interest from both David Moyes and Mehdi Benatia and multiple transfer bids being submitted by Manchester United, the star Moroccan central defender has not been sold and will be continuing to ply his trade for AS Roma until at least the end of the season.

Mehdi Benatia had made his name at Clement Foot in Ligue 2 of France before joining Udinese in the summer of 2010. There the center back really burst onto the scene before capturing a €14m move to his current club, Roma, in the summer of 2013. He's since made 60 appearances in all competitions for the Giallorossi, creating a title-winning partnership with Paolo Cannavaro.

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Staying Put: Mehdi Benatia, who has been a defensive lynchpin for Roma since signing last season, has had his "dream move" to Manchester United come undone has the two clubs could not agree on a fee.

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It seems, however, that Benatia is aiming to achieve further heights after winning the Serie A and Coppa Italia domestic double last season. When Manchester United came knocking earlier in the month to acquire his services, Benatia went on to describe the potential deal as "a dream move to the greatest club in world football".

United submitted an initial bid of just €10m on the 22nd which was quickly rejected by Francesco Totti and his transfer adviser, Director of Football Walter Sabatini. Sources from within the Roma camp reported that Benatia, upset about his transfer being blocked, strongly pushed toward the move in an attempt to get the deal through.

David Moyes returned on the 27th with a €15m bid, which was again rejected, along with a supposed asking price of at least €25m. With time running out, the Red Devils submitted a final bid of €20m on transfer deadline day, causing quite a stir at the Olimpico. Despite some financial pressuring from club chairman James Pallotta, Totti adamantly refused to sell.

"Mehdi [Benatia] is the best defender at the club," said the player-manager to the press. "We are not a selling club; we are going to keep our top talents and continue to build a title-winning side."

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Great update and layout!
You don't want to sell your best players, so you have definitely made the right decision in rejecting the offer.

Less badly, Benatia is a key piece in the Rome.

pompeyblue: Thanks bud, Adam was very generous in letting me use a few of his ideas. And yes, I've very glad we've been able to keep Benatia, he is our best defender!

Cr7ver: Yes, he's our defensive lynchpin, I'm glad he stayed!

Also...

THANK YOU FOR 500 REPLIES!!

It's been a pleasure writing this story for you guys, and I'm glad to see so many of you support me in this venture of recreating Rome's global empire Here's to 500 more, perhaps

20 million isn't enough for Benatia, good that you rejected the bid

ASR-PSV: Agreed, to be honest even if United did meet my valuation of the player I may have rejected purely because of his importance to the club.

You've put the club into a difficult position D:

Pauker: Difficult? I was unaware that keeping your best players is bad

Alvaro Morata scored 5 goals in the last 3 games of the month, finding good form again after his extended injury layoff earlier in the season.

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TORINO 0-3 INTER (SERIE A)
MORATA, DE ROSSI (x2)
DE ROSSI

ROMA 3-1 BOLOGNA (SERIE A)
PJANIC, MORATA (x2)
MORATA

ROMA 2-2 CAGLIARI (SERIE A)
MORATA (x2)
MORATA

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After a very difficult start to the month of January, it seems as though AS Roma has at least started to turn things around. Defeating Juventus on penalties in the Coppa Italia semifinals seemed to put a bit of belief back in the boots of the Giallorossi, and the team worked to 7 points from the last 9 in the month.

The star of the month was certainly Alvaro Morata. He scored the go-ahead goal against Torino, scored a late brace off of the bench to ensure victory against Bologna, and scored an 89th minut equalizer to salvage a draw against Cagliari. The Spanish striker has had a tough first season in Italy, struggling with injuries, but he is finally showing what he is capable of.

Victories aside, Roma did stumble more against Cagliari at the end of the run of fixtures. The midfield looked tired and slow on the ball, though that may have been because the match was the 9th of the month, in total.

Injuries had become a problem for the team as well, as Mattia Destro missed all three matches and may miss a couple more with a pulled hamstring he picked up in training. Though he has not been sorely missed due to Morata's goalscoring prowess, it is still a loss of depth. McDonald Mariga also was ruled out for 5 week when he sustained a hamstring injury versus Torino.

To help fill in for all of these losses, especially that of Mehdi Benatia to the Africa Cup of Nations, 18 year old central defender Cristiano Diovido was given his first ever professional league appearance.

The Giallorossi will get a bit of rest as an international break is upcoming in February, but when they return the hard work starts in earnest; the first leg of the UEFA Champions League first knockout round against FC Barcelona in the Camp Nou is beckoning.


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Looks really nice and Alvaro <3

Congrats on 500 replies Neal!
Another good month even if you have dropped into second, I'm sure you will take back 1st though once you have played your game in hand

Morata is in top form, hopefully it continues!