Inter Milan emerged as the frontrunners to sign Nemanja Matic from Chelsea as the Blues are ready to open talks about a £34.5 million-rated midfielder.
Chelsea opted not to sell to the Premier League rivals Man United who are interested in bringing Matic to Old Trafford and were linked to the player in the past few weeks. However, after Romelu Lukaku’s transfer to United, when the Red Devils hijacked the deal from Chelsea, the current league champions and Antonio Conte are not willing to do business with them.
With Tottenham and Roma playing hardball over the availability of Eric Dier and Radja Nainggolan, respectively, Jose Mourinho’s shortlist is now even shorter and he may be forced to look elsewhere. Matic wants to join United, especially now when Tiemoue Bakayoko’s transfer from Monaco is practically a done deal. Still, Nemanja will not be allowed to join the title contenders and continues to train alone at Cobham, so the move away from Stamford Bridge is looking quite probable.
Whether the Italian football and Inter sound appealing to the Serbian international remains to be seen, but his wish of teaming up with Jose Mourinho again seems to be squashed. Chelsea have been trying to strike a new contract for Matic for the past 18 months, but now they are looking to cash in and recoup the money from Bakayoko’s transfer.
Nemanja Matic played a significant role in the last year’s title-winning campaign and recorded two goals and seven assists in 40 appearances, but it seems that his days at Stamford Bridge are over. The 28-year-old would prefer to stay in England, and he may reject the possibility of moving to Italy, so Man United could still have a slim chance of getting the former Benfica man.
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