MFK Kosice have confirmed Nemanja Matic is set to join Middlesbrough.

The imposing 20-year-old has been on trial on Teesside for the last fortnight although his spell with Boro will be cut short after he was called into the full Serbian side for the first time for Sunday's friendly with Poland.

Allen Bule, Kosice's head of football development, said: "Even though we don't want to lose Matic, it is looking more likely he will be playing in the Premiership in January. We always knew that this player would become a star player in Europe.

"MFK Kosice's player development programme has shown once again that players, when given the right timeframe, will become star players like Nemanja."

Matic has been at MFK Kosice for three seasons, he has scored four goals in 58 games and is a regular Serbia Under-21 international.

Boro must also make a decision on Matic's Kosice team-mate, 18-year-old Juraj Hovancik, who has been training with the club since the start of last week.