Nicolas Otamendi has suggested that he wants to leave Valencia, while playing down a photo recently tweeted of himself with Manchester United winger Angel Di Maria.
Otamendi, 27, had a superb campaign with Valencia, scoring six times and leading a defence which helped secure fourth place in La Liga and Champions League football next season.
That form earned him a starting place in the Argentina team for the Copa America, and has also led to reported interest from United and Real Madrid, with his agent Eugenio Lopez saying last month that he has an offer to join an unnamed top club.
Speaking to ESPN from the Albiceleste's Copa America camp, the tough centre-back said that he stood over everything that Lopez has said, although for the moment he is concentrating on his international duties.
"The truth is that I am enjoying being with the national team, at the Copa America, where there is a lot of responsibility to wear the jersey," Otamendi said. "I spoke at the time with my agent, and Valencia know very well what I want.
"Every word my agent says is obviously with my authorisation, with whoever he needs to speak with. At the moment, as I said, my head is fully with the national team, to be able to perform at the maximum when I get to play, and to enjoy this unique moment."
Otamendi did admit to having a meeting with Valencia president Amadeo Salvo at the end of last season, a meeting in which he and Lopez reportedly made clear their plans to move on after just one year at the Mestalla.
"I had a chat with the president [Salvo] and my agent, and he knows very well what I want," he said. "But now I have told my agent that my head is here [in Chile] and I will leave it in his hands to do what he must do."
A tweet published by Otamendi this week which showed him having fun with his "friend" Di Maria has been taken in some quarters as a sign that he would like to join his international colleague at Old Trafford next season.
Con el mi amigo fide truqueando y tomando unos buenos mates ✌?ﾸﾏ?ﾟﾏﾻ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/oZove7yhA4
- Nicolas Otamendi (@Notamendi30) June 17, 2015
Otamendi denied any ulterior motive behind the tweet, while also pointedly mentioning another United player Marcos Rojo in his list of top Argentina players.
"Well, it's not such a big deal," he said, while choosing his words carefully. "I am enjoying being with Di Maria, Rojo, [Carlos] Tevez, [Lionel] Messi and many other big players here."