Kevin Strootman

Manager Rudi Garcia has ruled out the possibility of Kevin Strootman leaving Roma for Manchester United.

United are understood to retain an interest in Strootman and reports in Italy claim the 20-time English champions have bid at least £30 million for the Holland 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 before Roma’s friendly against Manchester United in Denver last night.

“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 Holland 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 last week. He did not turn out against United.

“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.”

Meanwhile, United were set to face a familiar name at the Sports Authority Field in the mid-west state of Colorado, last night.

Ashley Cole has been included in the Roma squad following his free transfer from Chelsea.

Cole had offers from the United States, but he opted to move to the Italian capital because he said he wanted to “be part of something big”, and not enjoy an “easy ride” in the MLS.

The move came as a surprise to some, particularly as Cole barely speaks any Italian, but Garcia is happy with how the former England defender is adapting to his new surroundings.

“He is keen to learn the language,” the Roma boss said.

“He wants to communicate with his team-mates on the pitch in Italian and I like and appreciate his attitude.”

Cole was scheduled to play against Manchester United but he was not expected to complete the whole game.

“At the moment he is struggling a bit with his physical preparation,” Garcia said.

Van Gaal enjoyed the best possible start to life at United with a 7-0 warm-up win against the Los Angeles Galaxy last Thursday, but he wants to see most of his 25-man squad as possible while in the United States.