Manager Rudi Garcia has ruled out the possibility of Kevin Strootman leaving Roma for Manchester United.
United are still pursuing Strootman, according to Press Association, and reports in Italy claim the 20-time English champions have bid at least 30 million pounds for the Netherlands midfielder. But Garcia insists the 24-year-old is going nowhere.
"Strootman is a Roma player. He will be a Roma player this year. There is no doubt about that," Garcia said on the eve of Roma's friendly against United in Denver.
"Only he can say whether he wants to stay, but it was never an issue for him to go to another club. There is no question of it."
New United manager Louis van Gaal knows Strootman well from his time as Netherlands coach. However, Van Gaal had to do without the midfielder at the World Cup as he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in March.
United would need to see the player, who moved to Roma from PSV Eindhoven last summer, had made a full recovery before launching any bid. Strootman is currently training in Boston, where Roma played Liverpool earlier this week, and will therefore not turn out against United on Saturday in Colorado.
"Strootman is following a normal recovery programme, he has stayed in Boston to work with our physios," Garcia added. "He will start running any time soon."