Following the arrival of Harry Maguire, Smalling lost his place in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's line-up.
But with Kostas Manolas joining Napoli, Smalling has been touted as the best option to help fill the void left by the Greek centre-back at Roma.
Securing a season-long loan move to the Stadio Olimpico, the former Fulham player has suggested a long term career in the Serie A after playing out his loan spell with Roma.
“This is an opportunity that came to me that I was very interested in, and I was very eager to come,” Smalling told a news conference on Friday.
“It happened very quickly and now I focus on the next game, getting up to speed with training in terms of the manager’s methods and then hopefully have a very good season.
“To be able to have the chance at a big club, and then if it prolongs and the club is happy then I can definitely see a longer-term future in Italy.”
Smalling also believes that racism which has become a difficult to control issue in modern football will lessen in the near future.
“There needs to be a change, there will be generational changes and younger people will have a different perspective,” he added.
“But it does happen, not just in Italy but around the world, and it is very sad and unacceptable that it still happens in these modern times.”
Smalling was recruited from Fulham in 2010 for an undisclosed fee as he made 200 appearances for Manchester United, winning five major honours.
The versatile defender scored just a goal in twenty-four Premier League games for Manchester United last term.
