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What’s the story?
With Chelsea closing in on Monaco’s midfield general Tiemoué Bakayoko, Nemanja Matic’s position in Antonio Conte’s starting XI is at risk and as per the Manchester Evening News, the big Serbian would much rather play at Old Trafford than be sat on the bench at Stamford Bridge. As per the same report, Jose Mourinho tried to convince his long-time favourite to join his new project in the northwest of England, but Antonio Conte managed to convince the midfield general to stay.
Now, Mourinho is set to go all out and make a £41 million bid for the Chelsea superstar.
In case you didn’t know
Matic has been as integral as the highly-vaunted N’Golo Kante to Chelsea’s undoubted midfield superiority and his numbers from the past season are pretty darn impressive: 88% pass accuracy, winning almost half of all the duels he’s gotten into whilst also creating 27 chances on the occasions he’s rampage forward. None of those forays forward were as impressive as the net-buster that he hammered into the far post against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup semi-final.
The heart of the matter
Mourinho believes that Matic’s defensive ability and positioning sense would be the perfect partner to Paul Pogba’s athletic inventiveness and Ander Herrera’s aggressive hustle – a midfield trio of Matic, Pogba, and Herrera is definitely Premier League winning material. Besides, we know just how much Mourinho values a good solid physical specimen as part of the spine of his team – and they don’t get much more physical than the imposing Serb.
Antonio Conte, though, will not be keen to sell a player who’s defensive abilities he prizes highly, and will definitely not want to sell on to a direct rival for his crown. With his market value currently around £30 million, Ed Woodward and co will have to pay significantly higher – in the region of £41 million to convince the Blues to let him go.
Video
The defensive ability of the Serb has been in view for all to see this season –
Author’s Take
These rumours come and go as easily as feathers in the wind, but some of them do actually carry substance. Jose Mourinho is the one who made Abrahamovic swallow his pride and go back for Nemanja Matic and it paid rich dividends, and if he believed him enough to go up against the famously stubborn Russian oligarch, it is more than likely that he has asked his current employers to do whatever it needs to get the Serb to patrol Old Trafford’s defensive third. Chelsea, though, are unlikely to let him go so easily – if they do, they might just end up regretting it – even more than the move that saw Juan Mata make the same shift up north.
