Adelaide United have confirmed they will not be able to offer Marcos Flores a reasonable contract after he was released by his Chinese club.

The 26-year old Argentine midfielder left the Reds to join Henan Jianye in June last year but has been released and is now a free agent.

There were talks regarding a return to Hindmarsh Stadium but a statement from Adelaide has ruled out the Johnny Warren Medallist coming back to the A-League.

"The stumbling block here is that the club has already 22 contracted players for next season and thus only have one spot left on the roster," the statement read.

"Furthermore, the club already has both an Australian and foreign marquee player and as such, the club simply cannot contract Flores for next season as there is no room available in the salary cap to do so.

"The club has from the day Marcos left maintained strong relations with him so that Adelaide was always a serious option for him after the expiration of his Chinese contract.

"The early termination of his contract leaves the club in a position that as much as we admire and recognise his unique talents, we are currently unable to offer him a contract that he would accept."

 The game is about opinions. Make yours heard! Join the tribalfootball.com nation on Facebook today: Facebook.com/tribalfootball