Photo: Werner100359 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Vegan defender Chris Smalling has completed a permanent move from Manchester United to Roma, with the deal finally agreed on transfer deadline day, Monday, October 5.
Roma pay €15m plus up to €5m in add-ons, and Smalling signs a three-year contract with the option of a fourth, according to Sky Sports. It ends weeks of back-and-forth between the clubs after his loan spell made him a fans' favorite at the Stadio Olimpico. Smalling was Roma's top target all summer, and they approached United several times during the window.
The 30-year-old didn't hide how much he wanted it, telling the club's website:
My head and my heart has always been in Rome. I am delighted to now be yours. Daje Roma!
"Nothing in life worth having comes easy," he added.
Smalling went fully vegan in 2018, encouraged by his wife Sam, and says his body has thanked him for it. He told Sky Sports that problems he used to have had gone: "I had quite a few symptoms, but since I went fully vegan I don't feel it at all anymore." Testing at United backed him up: "We did a test of our hamstrings and I've increased by 35 per cent from the last test."
We first reported on Smalling going fully vegan two years ago, and last season he became the first Englishman since Beckham to score twice in a Serie A season. Fellow vegan defender Hector Bellerin, meanwhile, has just bought into Forest Green Rovers.
No meat, no problem.