Conte's Inter linked with January move for Matic

Cape Town - Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte has been tipped to make another raid on Manchester United in January, with midfielder Nemanja Matic reportedly on his wish list.

Having pushed the boat out to sign Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez in the summer, there are growing reports in Italy that claim Nerazzurri boss Conte will target Matic in the upcoming January transfer window.

The 31-year-old Serbia international worked with ex-Italy head coach Conte for a season at Chelsea, before being prised away to Manchester United by Jose Mourinho.

However, Matic has lost his status as an automatic first-team choice and is showing nothing like his early United form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Matic is also nearing the end of his contract at Old Trafford, which will have just six months left on it when the next transfer window opens on January 1.

United do hold an option to extend his stay in Manchester for another year, but it currently looks unlikely that he would be part of Solskjaer's planned rebuild with the Norwegian focusing on youth.

Italian daily Corriere dello Sport claim Inter are preparing a three-year contract worth €5 million per season, which ought to be an attractive offer to a player in his 30s.

The same newspaper also claimed last month that Matic was offered to both Milan clubs in the summer.

United would be due a small fee for Matic in January and could decide to keep hold of him if they feel his experience would be useful for whatever the second half of the campaign has in store for the Red Devils.

Inter certainly appear to have had the better of both summer swoops with Lukaku looking like the player United thought they had when he arrived from Everton in a £75 million deal two years ago.

The Belgian has rattled in three goals in seven appearances for Conte, who originally wanted to sign him for Chelsea in 2017.

And Sanchez has also hit the ground running on his return to Italy on loan, something which Matic may feel he could do if he were to make the switch to Serie A.

- TeamTalk Media