Door could be open for Neuville to return to Citroen as team head Matton mulls options

Yves Matton has opened the door to a possible Citroen return for Thierry Neuville next season.

Neuville last drove for Matton in 2012 but shunned the Belgian’s offer of a part-programme in the following year’s World Rally Championship after clinching a deal to contest the full series with M-sport.

Previously, Matton had been cool on the idea of his countryman coming back, but there is increasing speculation that the two could be close to sealing a deal for Neuville to join Kris Meeke.

Matton acknowledges the challenge of managing a potential Meeke-neuville line-up, saying: “It’s one of the solutions. For sure Neuville and Kris are the same profile [of driver] for me, but don’t forget I could manage four drivers at the same level in the World Touring Car Championship. To have them is one scenario, but at the moment I only write down the different scenarios – we will know at the end of this month what is the best scenario and after that we think to the drivers.”

Matton has 10 drivers on his list, that list will be down to “four or five” by the end of the month.

Neuville himself remained tight-lipped on his future, but sources close to him have admitted it looks like his time with Hyundai is up.

He finished seventh in the WRC standings in 2012 – his first full year in a WRC car – driving for Matton. He then finished second with M-sport in 2013 before switching to Hyundai.