Nemanja Matic was expected to leave Manchester United in January (Picture: Getty)

Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire have pulled out of a move to sign Manchester United ace Nemanja Matic after deeming the deal to be too expensive.

The Serbian has fallen out of favour under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this term with the Norwegian preferring the younger legs of Scott McTominay, Fred and Andreas Pereira in Paul Pogba’s absence.

However, with Pogba and McTominay currently sidelined, Matic has been reinstated into the first team set-up given Solskjaer’s lack of options.

The Serbian had been minded to leave the club in January and had attracted attention from AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid.




However, the 31-year-old had considered a complete career change and had held initial discussions with Chicago Fire over a move to the United States.

Schweinsteiger’s departure has freed up a designated player spot (Picture: Getty)

The MLS side recently freed up a designated player slot after Bastian Schweinsteiger’s retirement and felt that Matic was at the perfect stage of his career to move to Illinois.

However, the club have been put off by Matic’s wage demands and have pulled out of a deal, according to the Daily Mail.

Matic is out of contract at the end of the season but United are likely to trigger a one-year extension in order to protect their £40m investment in the midfielder.

The situation will be reassessed at the end of the season, when Solskjaer hopes to add at least two midfielders to his squad

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