United will wait until January for £30m Roma star

We'll get our business done before the World Cup ... yeah, the 2018 World Cup.

Ahem. According to your friend and mine Jamie Jackson in the Guardian, Manchester United will wait until January 2015 to make a move for Roma and Netherlands midfielder Kevin Strootman. While a firm favourite of Louis van Gaal, Strootman injured his ligaments last season and will not return until the autumn.

Buying injury-prone midfielders with buggered knees hasn't worked out too well in the past for United, so a perhaps a bit of caution on this one is welcome. Talking to the Guardian, Strootman's agent did that thing agents do, where they talk about everything and nothing, managing to create a story without actually indicating whether or not anything's happening:

There has been nothing between the clubs or between Louis and Kevin - they know each other and like each other but at this stage its not related to Man United. Roma do not want to sell. The first thing is its all between [the] clubs. And its also a very difficult decision because he has to choose between a fantastic club in Rome, a club that bought him and supported him while he was injured and [then] you have his personal coach of the national team at United. The clubs have to decide.

Got that? Strootman won't be sold unless Roma agree to sell him. Louis van Gaal's exciting kidnapping plan will just have to wait.