Manchester United’s Nemanja Matic is keen to extend his contract, which runs out at the end of the season, but says no discussions have taken place.

Earlier in the week Ole Gunnar Solskjær indicated that United were hoping to keep the midfielder and talks were in progress, adding that Matic was playing his best football since joining the club, though the player maintains he is unsure about his future.

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“I’ve got a contract until the end of the season,” the 31-year-old said. “I’m at Carrington every day and open to talks if they think I can help, but if not life will go on. No discussions have happened yet, but my position is clear. It is a pleasure to represent this club, I came here to win things and if they want me to stay then of course I’ll give my best to try and win trophies.

“To be honest the reality now, with this team, is that it will be hard to win the league. We are very far from that, but we are there in the Europa League, along with some good teams such as Inter Milan and Ajax who came from the Champions League. So that will be hard too, but not impossible. We have a chance.”

Matic earned Pep Guardiola’s praise for his performance in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg, despite getting sent off after two yellow card offences. United managed to win the game, though not the tie, and the Serb believes their season will continue to progress unevenly because there are so many young players in the squad. “We had some good moments in the game against City,” he said. “I think we managed to control their attacks and we deserve some credit for that because the Etihad is not an easy place to go and keep a clean sheet.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nemanja Matic scored at the Etihad as Manchester United ran out 1-0 winners on the night, but lost 2-1 on aggregate. Photograph: Paul Currie/BPI/Shutterstock

“We are having some ups and downs this season but that is normal for players who are young and still improving. We cannot be happy if we don’t win anything because we are United – we always want to win – but we have to be honest about our situation at the moment; I think 10 of our players are under 20-years-old.

“The club wants to give chances to youngsters and there is nothing wrong with that, but at a club like this people also demand results – supporters are used to trophies. The young players are giving their best but they need time, and the problem is that in these kinds of clubs you do not have time. Whether the best this group of players can give is good enough for Manchester United we will have to wait and see. We will only be able to tell at the end of the season.”

United confirmed the signing of Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon on Thursday, on a five-and-a-half-year contract with an option to extend for a further year. They have agreed to pay £46m, possibly rising to £56m.

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Fernandes was part of the Portugal squad that won the Uefa Nations League last year and has made 19 appearances for his country. At club level he has scored 63 goals in 137 appearances for Sporting, the sort of scoring rate that has earned comparisons to a different sort of midfielder in Frank Lampard, though Fernandes himself is pleased to be following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo.

“My love of Manchester United really started when I used to watch Cristiano play and ever since then I have been a big fan of this club,” he explained. “For me to now play for Manchester United feels incredible. I have worked hard to get to this moment.”

Solskjær said: “We have been tracking Bruno for many months and everyone here has been tremendously impressed by all his attributes. He is a terrific human being with a great personality and his leadership qualities are clear for all to see.”