Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee has conceded that Darren Fletcher could have to depart Manchester United for the good of his career.

The midfielder has made just four starts in the Premier League this season and with his contract due to expire in the summer, he has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford this month.

Although McGhee has admitted that it would be a wrench for the 30-year-old to leave the club where he has spent his entire career, he pointed to other players that have decided "to bite the bullet" with positive results.

"He is a good trainer, but he likes playing. Therefore I don't think he is a lad who wants to be sitting on the bench," the Glasgow Evening Times quotes McGhee as saying.

"But it is a hugely difficult thing to leave a club like Manchester United. I think we've just got to trust him to make the call when he's ready.

"Other players have done it and gone on to do brilliantly. [Phil] Neville at Everton, for instance. The boys at Sunderland, [Wes] Brown and [John] O'Shea. They have made good careers at other clubs. At some point he might have to bite the bullet and go and do that. Then he will be a great player at another club."

The likes of Valencia, West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion have all been linked with moves for the Scotland international.