Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo is looking set to move to Turkish side Fenerbahce on loan.
Rojo did not feature in the whole of United’s pre-season tour to America due to fitness problems.The 28-year-old wasn’t included for their opening Premier League game of the season against Leicester at the weekend, failing even to get in the matchday squad.
That has fuelled rumours in Turkey that the former Sporting centre-back will leave Old Trafford before the window closes at the end of August.
Fanatik have claimed that the Red Devils and the Istanbul outfit are negotiations that will see Rojo leave on a season-long loan with an option to buy in 12 months time.
On 19 August 2014, an agreement to sell Rojo for €20 million (£16 million) was announced by both Sporting and Manchester United. The next day, United announced that they had signed him on a five-year contract, with Nani moving to Sporting on a season-long loan. Rojo stated that it was a “dream come true” to play with Manchester United.
Rojo missed three matches for United due to difficulties in gaining a work permit, because of pending criminal charges in Argentina, where he is alleged to have had an altercation with a neighbour in 2010.On 4 September, he was granted a work permit by the UK Border Agencyto work in England.Ten days later he made his debut at Old Trafford as United won for the first time in the season, playing the entirety of the 4–0 victory over Queens Park Rangers. Rojo was stretchered off in United’s 1–0 defeat in the Manchester derby on 2 November, sustaining shoulder damage from a tackle on Manchester City’s Martín Demichelis. It was later confirmed that he had dislocated his shoulder, adding to United’s defensive injuries alongside Jonny Evans and Phil Jones.On 3 February 2015, Rojo scored his first goal for United, heading a ball played by Robin van Persie for the second goal of a 3–0 win over Cambridge United in an FA Cup fourth round replay.
During Manchester United’s 2015 pre-season tour of North America, Rojo was expected to join up with the rest of the squad following an extended break granted after competing for Argentina in the Copa America. However, passport issues reportedly caused Rojo to miss pre-season tour entirely, and the matter was said to have “angered” manager Louis van Gaal. Rojo was resultantly fined £140,000 for failing to join up with the rest of the squad on time.In the 2016 FA Cup Final, which United won 2–1 after extra time against Crystal Palace, Rojo was booked in the first half for fouling Pape Souaré and was substituted for Matteo Darmian after 66 minutes.
On 4 March 2017, Rojo scored his first Premier League goal to open a 1–1 home draw against Bournemouth.He suffered a season-ending cruciate ligament injury on 20 April, during a 2–1 win over Anderlecht in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, a tournament that United ended up winning.He made his return on 28 November 2017, in a 4–2 win at Watford.
Rojo was first capped on 9 February 2011, in a 2–1 friendly victory against Portugal at the Stade de Genève, Geneva. Later that year he was included in Argentina’s squad as they hosted the 2011 Copa América, and played the opening match on 2 July, a 1–1 draw against Bolivia. Javier Zanetti replaced him at left back for the rest of the tournament as Argentina reached the quarter-finals.
In June 2014, Rojo was named in Argentina’s squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He made his FIFA World Cup debut in their 2–1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Maracanã, playing the full match in defence, and contributing to Sead Kolašinac’s own goal. In the team’s third group match, Rojo scored his first international goal, the winner in a 3–2 victory against Nigeria.The country reached the final before losing to Germany, and Rojo was the only Argentinean named in the Castrol Index Top 11 for the tournament.
Rojo was selected by coach Gerardo Martino for the 2015 Copa América. At the end of Argentina’s goalless quarter-final against Colombia in Viña del Mar, Rojo missed in the penalty shootout but his team advanced nonetheless.On 30 June, he opened the scoring in a 6–1 semi-final defeat of Paraguay which put Argentina into the final. He played the entirety of the decisive match against the hosts at the Estadio Nacional de Chile, which Argentina lost on a penalty shootout after a goalless draw.
A year later for the Copa América Centenario in the United States, Rojo was again in Martino’s squad. In the final on 26 June at MetLife Stadium, he was sent off in the first half for a foul on Arturo Vidal, as both teams ended the goalless game on 10 men and Chile again won on penalties.
Rojo was named by Jorge Sampaoli in the Argentina squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On 26 June, he scored the winning goal in Argentina’s 2–1 triumph over Nigeria, which secured the team’s qualification for the knockout stage as group runners-up behind Croatia.In the round of 16 match against France on 30 June, he was booked after conceding a penalty in the 10th minute for a foul on Kylian Mbappé, which was later converted by Antoine Griezmann, who opened the scoring. Rojo was later replaced by Federico Fazio in the 46th-minute. Argentina lost the match 4–3 and were eliminated from the tournament