Nemanja Matić’s appearances for Manchester United have been restricted and his last outing for the club came in their goalless Europa League draw against AZ Alkmaar in October.
Since September, there’s been various reports coming out of Italy talking about the 31-year-old’s potential move to Serie A either in January or at the end of the season.
On Thursday, ESPN carried a report on the former Chelsea man and explained Atlético Madrid have joined the race for the midfielder.
It’s claimed Matic has emerged as a January target for Diego Simeone’s side and the report also stated the Red Devils could favour his sale in the winter market, if they receive a suitable offer.
Mundo Deportivo have decided to respond to ESPN’s claims and ruled out Atlético making an approach for Matić in the next window, because of the La Liga club’s salary limit.
They say the claims are ‘not entirely correct’.
The Catalan publication adds Matić would ‘more likely’ arrive at Atlético on a free transfer next summer, when his contract with United expires.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have an option to further extend the player’s deal by a year, but the Serbian doesn’t seem to be overly interested in continuing with them.