Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia turned down the opportunity to leave the club during the January window.
The 33-year-old’s current contract at Old Trafford is due to expire this summer, but rather than move on ahead of schedule, the veteran defender chose to stay until the end of the season.
The Ecuadorian has been omitted from caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s last five matchday squads, falling behind Ashley Young and Diogo Dalot in the pecking order at right-back.
According to The Sun, United received offers from both Newcastle and Fulham for Valencia on deadline day and while Solskajer was happy to sanction his departure, the full-back ultimately rejected both offers.
Valencia was named as club captain by former boss Jose Mourinho at the start of the 2018-19 campaign, but he has since only managed to appear in eight matches across all competitions.
The former winger joined the Red Devils from Wigan Athletic back in 2009 and quickly established himself as a first team regular under Sir Alex Ferguson, winning two Premier League titles and a League Cup before the Scottish coach retired in 2013.
Valencia has won the Europa League, FA Cup and another League Cup since then, but as he approaches the twilight years of his career he has been deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford.
The United skipper will now see out the last six months of his contract before deciding on his future, but he is unlikely to be short of potential suitors this summer given his quality and experience at the highest level.
