Marouane Fellaini’s nightmare time at Manchester United could be about to end as the club are in negotiations with Napoli regarding the midfielder, whose £27.5m fee last summer made him the fourth most expensive player in the club’s history.

Fellaini is thought to be minded to make the move to Italy, although he is still weighing up the decision. Whether it would be a permanent transfer or loan deal is also in the balance.

United would prefer to sell the player and are bracing themselves to take a sizeable loss on him, with any fee in the region of £15m understood to be considered good business. Napoli, though, want to take Fellaini on a temporary basis as the Italian club have straitened finances and are trying to remove players from their books.

With Fellaini on about £100,000 a week, his terms may also be an issue if it were to be a permanent transfer. Despite the Belgian’s disappointing form since joining United – he failed to score a goal for the club and was unlucky with injuries – Rafael Benítez, the Napoli head coach, believes the player’s physicality could be utilised in Serie A.

The move away from United is being presented to Fellaini as a chance to rebuild his career and an opportunity to play Champions League football as United are not in the competition next season.

Fellaini’s disgruntlement at his troubled year at United was evident at the World Cup when he was asked about his Old Trafford experience. “I have played eight years as a professional, so I don’t need to prove [anything],” he said. “I always believed in myself.”

Shinji Kagawa’s future at United is also in doubt as Louis van Gaal continues to assess his players during the tour of the United States. Kagawa’s former club, Borussia Dortmund, retain an interest in him and are seen as potential suitors.

Van Gaal has described the squad he inherited from David Moyes as “broken”. The manager was asked whether succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson would have been harder and replied: “No. I don’t agree. I had to follow Bobby Robson at Barcelona the year after he won three titles and there wasn’t a problem [Van Gaal won the league that year]. When there is success you have a very good squad, and now I have to follow and the squad was broken, I think.

Van Gaal said there was quality in the squad but added: “There are a lot of players that can play in the same position. It is not in balance. It’s more difficult to succeed in a difficult situation than in a fantastic situation.”

Robin van Persie is due to restart training at Carrington on Monday after his post-World Cup break and will not be joining United in the US.