Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere has admitted that his club 'cannot afford' to sign Manchester United attacker Memphis Depay in this month's winter transfer window.

Depay, 22, has been deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford and Man United boss Jose Mourinho revealed at the end of last month that the Netherlands international has expressed a desire to leave the Red Devils.

Nice have been strongly linked with a move for the attacker, but after reviewing the finances for any potential deal, Rivere has revealed that the Ligue 1 outfit have been priced out of an offer.

"We looked at him, like a lot of clubs have, but it is extremely complicated... It is a situation which is out of our financial reach," Rivere told RMC.

"You have a club that bought him for a certain amount, that wants to sell him. When we looked at Depay, it was in another way, which is not possible today. He was bought very expensively by Manchester United, they want to possibly sell him and we cannot compete in this sort of situation."

Depay, who has also been linked with a move to Everton, has failed to start a single game for Man United this season and has only played 20 minutes of the 2016-17 Premier League campaign to date.