Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata has expressed his belief that Premier League games will start being played abroad "sooner rather than later".

Talks regarding a '39th game' have taken place on and off for a number of years now, although the idea is currently shelved and does not look likely to happen in the foreseeable future.

However, Mata would not be surprised if the Premier League followed the lead of the likes of the NFL and NBA by hosting matches outside of England.

"I think this is something that might happen eventually. We've seen it in different sports, we've seen it with some sports played abroad and they are still in competitions," Mata told MUTV.

"I don't know if it will happen or not but, because of the way football seems to be going, it might happen sooner rather than later. It will be great for our fans around the world, to be honest. It will be great to see us play live, playing for competitive points.

"It will be difficult to organise to be honest, and also a little bit unfair for the people that live in the UK who go to every single game. So there's a little bit of a discussion there to speak deeper about it, but I think that it will happen in football."

Mata has made 31 appearances for United across all competitions this season, scoring three goals and creating five more.