Nemanja Matic officially confirms Man Utd exit to jumpstart Erik ten Hag’s summer plans

Nemanja Matic has confirmed he will leave Manchester United at the end of the season. The news comes days after Erik ten Hag agreed to a deal in principle to become the next manager

Nemanja Matic announced his departure Manchester United at the end of the season.

The 33-year-old midfielder has a contract with the Red Devils until June 2023 but has been confirmed Instagram : “After much thought, I have decided that this season will be my last at Manchester United. I have informed the board, the coach and the players of my decision.

“It was a great honor and privilege to play for this great club. A big thank you to the fans for their tireless support. I’ll do my best now until the end of the season to help my teammates finish as strong as possible. ” Matic’s decision means he won’t play under the new boss Eric ten Hagwho agreed in principle to an agreement with the Red Devils earlier this week as the successor to the interim boss Ralph Rangnik. United added in a statement: “Thank you for all your efforts over the last five seasons Nemanja and to a strong conclusion to your time at United in the coming weeks.”

Rumors of Matic’s imminent departure began circulating earlier this week despite the Serb starting United’s last game, a sad 1-0 defeat at the everton last Saturday. Matic signed with the 20-time English champions in the summer of 2017 Jose Mourinho was still responsible for a £40million charge having just overturned it First League title with Chelsea.

That means the former Stamford Bridge star hasn’t won a trophy at Old Trafford as his five-year association with the Red Devils has seen him reach two cup finals and lose both. Just two weeks ago, Matic admitted the uncertainty surrounding United’s leadership situation was difficult for the first-team squad.

“It’s not easy when the players think the coach is only here for a few months,” he explained. “It’s not easy for him. But we’re all professionals, we have to follow his ideas because it’s good for him, good for us and good for the club. For the players sometimes when you know the manager isn’t for that’s next season, it’s not easy.

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“When you change coaches, every new coach needs some time to work on that and we try to do exactly what they want us to do. In some games we did that very well, in some games we didn’t do so well.”

Matic told it too talkSPORT : “The atmosphere depends on the results. Of course, when you get good results, the atmosphere is much better and everyone is happy. As you know we are not in the best position in the league and the atmosphere is not fantastic but we have to stay positive and believe to the end because we want to finish in the top four.

“The atmosphere in our dressing room will depend on that. If we finish in the top four, it will be good for us, everyone will be…I can’t say happy, but satisfied. If we don’t do that, it will be a very sad dressing room.” As for the midfielder’s next move, he has been linked with a Mourinho reunion Roma.