Nemanja Matic back among Man Utd stars at Carrington amid transfer speculation

Nemanja Matic was back at Manchester United’s training ground among other first team stars as speculation surrounding his future continues to swirl.

Matic skipped United’s annual Gala Dinner on Tuesday, instead posting a picture having dinner with Wolves striker Patrick Cutrone.

He then arrived at United’s Carrington training base on Wednesday only to leave just 24 minutes later with his future looking increasingly bleak.

But he was amongst the United players to arrive at Carrington for training on Thursday alongside other first team stars with a youthful side in Europa League action against Astana.

First-team coaches Kieran McKenna and Michael Carrick took training after youth boss Nicky Butt accompanied Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to Kazakhstan.

Matic has made just two Premier League starts this season, not appearing at all since United’s 2-0 defeat to West Ham on September 22.

He has been linked with a move to Tottenham to join former manager Jose Mourinho following his return to management, with Inter Milan also said to have an interest.

He liked a post joking he would be moving to Spurs after Mourinho took the job having played a key role under the Portuguese boss at both Chelsea and Old Trafford.

But Solskjaer laughed off his social media activity, stating: “That’s not a part of being boring when it’s like this.

“You like Jose coming back, it’s going be a spectacle and a circus and Nemanja has a sense of humour.”

He has nonetheless fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford – although club legend Peter Schmeichel urged Solskjaer to give Matic a fresh run in the first team after returning from a recent injury.

“They needed a player like Matic, just to sit in that defensive midfield role and just calm things down,” the legendary former goalkeeper told Premier League Productions .

“He’s been criticised for being slow and playing the ball backwards too many times, but sometimes they needed that.

“I like Fred, but he definitely needs somebody strong, somebody that can control him.”