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Dick Advocaat has risked making enemies at Serie A club Roma by claiming Kevin Strootman will soon move to a bigger club like Manchester United.

The 66-year-old coaching journeyman was at the helm of PSV Eindhoven last season—his second management stint with the team—and left a few months prior to Strootman's summer transfer.

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Now at AZ Alkmaar, Advocaat is reported by Dutch outlet Algemeen Dagblad (h/t Declan Warrington of the Daily Mail Online) as saying:

Strootman is a pure professional. It frankly surprised me that he did not get to the absolute top last summer and was on the side a little. I do not think he will stay at Roma that long. If Kevin is at this level, he will be plucked away. And then it will be a team of the calibre of Manchester United.



Strootman was being linked with a move to Old Trafford over the summer, as Warrington suggests, but ultimately opted for the sunnier climate of Serie A, moving to the Italian capital in July.

Despite the arrival of Marouane Fellaini from former club Everton, David Moyes still has some tinkering to do in the centre of United's midfield as Michael Carrick, currently injured, remains the club's most reliable engine-room asset.

Roma are yet to lose this season and remain at the head of the Italian top flight, having dropped just four points in their first 12 outings. They drew their most recent two fixtures against Torino and Sassuolo.

Strootman has only missed a handful of minutes in the campaign, starting every league match since making his debut in the 3-0 win over Hellas Verona.

Since then, the box-to-box midfielder has only seen things go from strength to strength, contributing four assists and grabbing a couple of goals along the way, as per Transfermarkt.co.uk.

United, meanwhile, aren't having as a strong a challenge for their own title and lay outside the Premier League's top four. Having said that, their bid to defend the domestic crown did receive a major boost thanks to last week's 1-0 win over Arsenal.

Advocaat describes the Red Devils as being a top club, but Roma are certainly no minnows and have their own pedigree on the European stage. With that being said, they have never won the European Cup.

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Should the Giallorossi continue their bid to strip Juventus of their league title, it will certainly raise questions as to whether Strootman would actually be better off staying at the club, "bigger" destinations be damned.

For now at least, the 23-year-old is thriving in his current environment and would appear to be enjoying his football, although it seems good form can only do so much to convince Advocaat.