Nemanja Matic has signalled his intent to retire from international football, according to Serbian newspaper Informer.
Matic has reportedly decided he no longer wishes to play for Serbia, although manager Ljubiša Tumbaković still hopes to persuade the Manchester United star to change his mind.
Serbia are due to play play-off qualifying matches for Euro 2021 before the end of this year, so this is a pivotal period for them.
Matic though reportedly has his own concerns about the Serbian FA and is said to have made up his mind.
Good news for Manchester United
United benefitted years ago from Paul Scholes’ early international retirement, after England contrived to waste his talents by playing him out of position.
This spared Scholes extra gametime, providing extra rest over the international breaks, helping him to prolong his career.
For Matic this would also be an exceptionally smart decision with his United career in mind.
Matic has just turned 32 earlier this month and signed a three-year contract at the start of July.
His new deal was fully deserved after an excellent individual campaign in the second half of 2019/20, and it would have been a bad move to let him walk away.
Whether Matic can keep up this level of performance for the duration of his contract until 2023 is another matter. It won’t be easy, and United may look to sign a younger player in the same mould next summer regardless.
Retiring from national team duty can help him, as it did Scholes. When there is an international break in October for instance, Matic will not have to fly anywhere, and will get a fortnight off.
This will help manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with his team selection, especially following the breaks, as he will know Matic is fresh and rested up, rather than worrying about what condition he might return to Manchester in.
Not set in stone yet
As noted, Serbia are still attempting to convince Matic to join up with the squad, and he is in his homeland currently on holiday visiting his family.
He is due to return to United next week for the resumption of pre-season training ahead of the 2020/21 season.
Hopefully Matic follows through with his reported plan to quit international football because this could be really good for him, and United.
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