Nemanja Matic was ‘forced’ to stay at Man Utd this summer – despite transfer interest from AC and Inter Milan

NEMANJA MATIC did not get his move to Italy this summer because Manchester United were holding out for more money, according to one transfer pundit.

Matic joined Manchester United from Chelsea in 2017 and quickly established himself as a first-team regular.

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However, the Serbia international has fallen out of favour under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and has played just 22 minutes of Premier League football so far this season.

Journalist Duncan Castles reckons Matic does not want to leave United - but will have to for the good of his career.

Castles told the Mirror: “It’s not that he wanted to leave Manchester United, but his calculation was: 'If Solskjaer doesn’t want to play me, I don’t want to be a bench player at Manchester United.

"'If these two important clubs in Italy are interested in signing me and giving me a long-term contract at age 31, then the rational decision for me would be to pursue that option and go and play football in Italy, ‘cos I’d rather be playing football in Italy on a long-term contract than be on the bench for a manager who would prefer to have someone else in the first team in England.'

“United didn’t take up those offers because they felt that financially they weren’t high enough for them to sell Matic.

“So he was forced to remain at the club. He didn’t push for a transfer in the sense of going public and going down the various steps you can go down when you want to move elsewhere.

“And now he sees himself stuck on the bench with a team that has won just one of four games this season under Solskjaer’s direction and is on a run of just three wins in 16 in all competitive matches.”

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Matic was the subject of bids from both AC Milan and Inter but no deal was agreed.

The latter would have seen him reunited with high-profile Solskjaer cast-offs Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.

The Norwegian boss spent the summer trying to cut away the dead wood at Old Trafford and Matic hinted last week that it could cost him his job if the side do not perform.

Matic said: “The coach must opt for the team that will fight for the title and if he does not win, he bears the responsibility.

“I have been in football for a long time, I have played almost all the games for all the clubs in the last 10 years.

"In order for me to play, one had to sit on the bench and accept that fact, and so do I now.”