Manchester United have reached an agreement with AS Roma for the transfer of defender Chris Smalling. The centre-back was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2010 from Fulham, and went on to make 323 appearances for the club, scoring 18 goals.
Smalling won the Premier League title in his very first season, 2010/11, and again in 2012/13. He also claimed the FA Cup (2015/16), the League Cup (2016/17), and the UEFA Europa League (2016/17) during his time with us, and started in all three of the finals that led to those triumphs.
His debut came in the Community Shield of 2010 – a 3-1 win over Chelsea – and Smalling made 33 first-team appearances in his first campaign, as the Reds sealed a record-breaking 19th title.
He scored the first of his 18 goals for the club in a League Cup tie at Scunthorpe, and opened his Premier League account with a header against Chelsea in the opening weeks of the following term.
But it is for his goals against Manchester City that Smalling will be most fondly remembered by fans across the globe. He scored more against the Blues than against any other opposition, and his strikes contributed to three memorable wins. Arguably his most famous moment arrived during the Manchester derby of April 2018, when he fired home the winner as United came back from 2-0 down to win at the Etihad.
