Manchester United-linked Nuno Mendes has signed a new contract extension at Paris Saint-Germain.
The Portuguese, who played under Ruben Amorim at Sporting CP previously, had emerged as a possible candidate to reinforce United's defence owing to recurring injury problems with Luke Shaw. However, he has now committed his long-term future to the French champions, signing a new deal which will be valid for the next five years.
Despite being linked to Old Trafford last month, The Manchester Evening News understands he was "not an active target" for the club at that juncture.
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It's understood the player had "verbally agreed" to his new deal in December, and an announcement is expected in the coming days. Mendes will be among the top earners at Parc des Princes - according to Fabrizio Romano.
Amorim, said to be an admirer of Mendes from their time together at Sporting CP, welcomed Patrick Dorgu from Lecce during the January transfer window. United spent £29.5million on his signature, but Lecce president Saverio Sticchi Damian claimed that United threatened to call off the transfer.
"It's an extraordinary operation in every sense," the Lecce president said.
"It's our richest sale ever, and arrives at a moment where we are in very good shape economically. We said multiple times that Dorgu wouldn't leave in January, but it happened because of an ultimatum by Manchester United. When they first approached us, we said we didn't want to sell him now. We didn't set a price or ask to raise their offer. We thought that our answer would halt their pursuit, but it had the opposite effect. The Red Devils insisted. We asked a few times to postpone everything to the summer, promising him that he wouldn't miss out on this opportunity.
"It was a historical step for us, but we wanted to do it in July. Instead, the English side relayed their desire to sign him immediately, as their coach [Ruben Amorim] requested. Their message was that the deal would either come together now or collapse. They told the player that, too. We can't judge Dorgu, as he's 20, and Manchester United came forward with a big proposal. All factors led us to believe that we would have gone from being coherent to stupidly stubborn [by not letting him go]."
The 20-year-old made his debut for United during their FA Cup fourth round win against Leicester City.
