Louis van Gaal brought him to Old Trafford two years ago, with most fans knowing little of him other than that he played well for Italy against England in the World Cup.

He started well at United too, with supporters prematurely hailing him as the right-back for the next five years, but it hasn't quite worked out that way.

Injuries and poor performances meant his debut season saw him fail to fulfill expectation, and his second season was even worse. Both Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho have played him at left-back, a position he often struggles in, but even when given a go on the right for the new manager he did little to impress.

The emergence of Antonio Valencia as a quality full-back didn't help Darmian's chances of making the position his own, and at 27, you have to wonder how much room there is for improvement. If you're being kept out of the team by a 31-year-old ex-winger, then maybe you're at the wrong club.

It looked as though his exit was certain and, while he may well still leave, he did enough toward the end of the season to put doubts in Mourinho's mind.

Darmian was a regular starter in the final weeks of the campaign and largely did well. It was his performance against Ajax in the Europa League final that showed what he was really capable of though.

The Italian followed Mourinho's instructions perfectly and, despite being faced with a much faster player in Bertrand Traore, did a brilliant job in defence. He limited Traore's space and tracked his movement well.

To perform on the big stage, arguably United's biggest game since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, says a lot about Darmian's character. However, it's week-in, week-out that United need him and he hasn't proven to be reliable.

A move to Juventus would see Darmian return to his homeland, upgrading to play for the champions of Italy, rather than Torino, the mid-table club he joined United from. Having progressed through the ranks of AC Milan, only to play a handful of games before being sold on, you could understand the temptation of joining Juventus to prove himself in his own country.

However, United are short on full-back options and an injury to Valencia would be devastating. Mourinho may well call to the players from the academy, the likes of Tim Fosu-Mensah or Axel Tuanzebe who would be capable of filling in, but that isn't the way that the manager would like to approach a title challenge.

Despite leaving him out of the team for large chunks of the season, Mourinho appears to have some appreciation for Darmian, praising him in the aftermath of United's 2-0 win over Chelsea in the final weeks of the season.

The feeling appears to be mutual, with Darmian dismissing any suggestion there had ever been any problems between the two and insisting he would work as hard as he needed to in order to play more football for Mourinho.

All that said, there's something totally underwhelming about Darmian and if United had a better option, like Dani Alves, the fans would be delighted. The fact they may well see Darmian travel to Italy to fill the boots of Manchester City-bound Alves is fairly disappointing.

Unless Mourinho can find a better backup than Darmian, on the cheap, then there's little point in letting him leave. Yet if he was to be replaced, there wouldn't be many United fans who were upset. He's played his part, helped United win a few trophies in the two seasons he's been here, but his departure would likely be met with indifference.