Nemanja Matic has reportedly emerged as a surprise target for Barcelona next summer.
The Manchester United midfielder, who made a rare start in the crushing 4-2 defeat to Leicester that saw the Red Devils slip out of the top four, is out of contract in June 2023.
And the Catalan giants are said to be keeping close tabs on the 33-year-old and are believed to be looking to sign the £140,000-a-week man for less than £10million, according to The Sun, with Sergi Roberto's deal up in the summer and Sergio Busquets' contract expiring the year after.
Barca were in talks with Georginio Wijnaldum over the summer after the Dutchman agreed to leave Liverpool - but Paris Saint-Germain ended up being his destination as he revealed that the French club were 'quicker' in making a decision about signing him.
Matic joined from Chelsea in the summer of 2017 and was a virtual ever-present in his first season at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho, starting in the 1-0 defeat to his former club in the 2018 FA Cup final.
He continued to start regularly following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's arrival in December 2018.
However, his minutes per game dwindled considerably last term as Scott McTominay, Fred and Paul Pogba all enjoyed more consistent game time than the Serbian - and the situation has remained unpromising this campaign.
Following United's desperately disappointing loss to the Foxes, Matic said: 'We are sorry for them [the supporters].
'They support us, especially away [and] they are top. They deserve much, much better than this.
'We will do our best to make them happy in the future. But we have 14 points – we are still in the title race. We don't want to give up until the end.'
Barcelona, who currently sit ninth in LaLiga, face three straight home games in the space of a week.
Valencia visit the Nou Camp on Sunday evening, before Ronald Koeman's men host Dynamo Kiev in the hope of picking up their first Champions League win of 2021-22 before El Clasico next Sunday.
Barca then travel to in-form Rayo Vallecano on October 27 before rounding off the month three days later against Alaves.