Chelsea want midfielder Nemanja Matic to return from Benfica for £21m

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho wants to strengthen his midfield by bringing Benfica's Nemanja Matic back to Stamford Bridge in a £21million deal

Chelsea are prepared to pay £21 million to bring Benfica midfielder Nemanja Matic back to the club during the January transfer window.

Manager Jose Mourinho wants to strengthen his central midfield options, with Matic among the players being considered. He is not the only candidate although it appears unlikely Chelsea will sign Inter Milan’s Fredy Guarin.

Matic, a 25-year-old Serbia international, left Stamford Bridge in January 2011 as a makeweight in the £25 million deal to acquire David Luiz from the Portuguese club when Carlo Ancelotti was Chelsea manager.

Matic had signed for Chelsea two years earlier but barely featured for the first team. However the central midfielder has blossomed since he moved to Portugal and is now understood to be keen to return to the Premier League and the club he left.

It is highly unlikely that Benfica would accept an offer of £21 million for the midfielder, even though his value was placed at just £4.15 million when they signed him, but Chelsea will test their resolve.

Matic, who was named player of the year in the Portuguese league last season, is understood to have a buy-out clause in his contract that is around £37 million.

Chelsea are close to agreeing a deal to sell Kevin De Bruyne to Wolfsburg for around £18 million. The Belgium international is keen to quit Chelsea to improve his first-team opportunities, as is Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/10565919/Chelsea-want-midfielder-Nemanja-Matic-to-return-from-Benfica-for-21m.html

Chelsea have agreed a deal in the region of €35m to snatch Benfica’s highly rated central midfielder Nemanja Matic, according to reports from Portugal newspaper O Jogo.

The 26-year-old, who was also a target of Manchester United, is expected to be in London tomorrow to conclude the deal

According to the report, Matic has not traveled with the Benfica squad to put further pressure on the Portuguese club.

The Serbian international joined Chelsea in 2009, but after making only couple of league appearances he was sold to Benfica in a apart deal that saw David Luiz coming to Stamford Bridge for a reported fee of £21M.

Portuguese journalist Goncalo Lopez tweeted:

Gonçalo Lopes @_GoncaloLopes

Matic has an agreement with Chelsea. He's refusing to play today with Benfica to put pressure.
(1:04 PM - 12 Jan 2014 from Mafra, Lisbon, Portugal)
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho recently said that he doesn’t expect any striker to buy in the January transfer windowm but didn’t rule out the possibility of bolstering the squad elsewhere.

Central midfield is certainly one of the areas where it needs reinforcement. With club legend Frank Lampard is approaching the apogee of his career and Micahel Essien not that same force any more, there is a need to add sufficient quality.

Matic, a technically gifted central midfielder, fits all the bill that Chelsea need at the moment. Most importantly, he can rack up odd goals as well..

http://soccerlens.com/chelsea-agree-e35m-deal-with-nemanja-matic/124488/

missing image if you don't see

Dont really see it happening. :P

Fuuuuuccccckkkkkkk.
I thought we were linked with him.

<<<<<<<<<<<<Back in time.
**Chelsea confirm signing of Matic (18 August 2009)**

Matic injured his foot against Italy at the European Under-21 Championship
Chelsea have signed central midfielder Nemanja Matic from Slovakian club MFK Kosice on a four-year deal.

The 21-year-old, who has two full Serbia caps, completed his move to Stamford Bridge on Monday in a deal that is thought to be worth £1.5m.

Matjic is currently sidelined because of the broken metatarsal that ended his Under-21 European Championship campaign in Sweden after only one game in June.
"I know a lot about Chelsea, I have been following them," he said.

MFK president Blazej Podolak added that the deal was rubber-stamped because "the money does not come in installments but immediately".

Matic recently underwent surgery and had a metal plate inserted into his foot after breaking his foot against Italy.

Honours****

Chelsea
FA Cup: 2009–10

Benfica
Taça da Liga: 2011–12

Individual
Primeira Liga Player of the Year: 2012–13
SJPF Player of the Month: December 2012, January 2013, April 2013.

Matic is starting today in the Clássico.

i think it would be more wise to buy a striker, instead of adding another midfielder to the 9346183741298641027 chelsea already have

@nanda Matic is a CDM we need one and yes we also need a Striker. and then we are all set. :)

There are some rumors that we are linked with some center backs but I don't think we need any.

you gave money + Matić for Luiz, now you giving Luiz + money for Matić . I hope he won't goes to CFC ;)

Sky sources are reporting that Chelsea have made a £20m bid to bring Benfica's Nemanja Matic back to Stamford Bridge.

The midfielder first joined Chelsea in 2009 but made just two appearances before leaving for Portugal in 2011.

He made that move to Benfica as part of the deal which saw David Luiz arrive at Stamford Bridge but Blues boss Jose Mourinho may now see Matic as the man to strengthen the centre of his midfield this January.

Matic has been capped nine times by Serbia and the 25-year-old has been a huge success since making the switch to Benfica.

The Portuguese side narrowly lost out to Porto in the race for the title last season and were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea in the Europa League final but Matic was named the Primeira Liga Player of the Year.

Some reports claim that he has a buy-out clause of around £37m in his current contract.

wow, this will be a good signing!

I'd be really happy if this deal happens. Our team would be nearly perfect if he joins (we're only missing a proper striker).

Only Chelsea would sell a player for £3m then buy him back 2 years later for £25m. You can't make this stuff up.

let's imagine you're Matic.Chelsea sell you for 4,4 millions because you're not needed and 2 years later they want you back.If I were Matic I would go anywhere but no back.

You guys make it seem as a horrible deal. Back when he was still a blue Matic wasn't even half the player he is now and we were already good to go with out pivot players. He needed as much game time as possible and selling him was the best option (he also pushed for the deal himself). He had a very low chance of ever starting for us or being this good now if we never sold him.

Plus, 20-25m pounds is a bargain for Matic.

its confirmed by fifa.com french website..yaya toure has a true rival in midfield now

For 23 million you might as well build Matic a personal training center in which he will train for for two years.

The good thing about this transfer is that he will become the autoMatic first choice central midfielder for us.

Matic:

To A Bola: "Yes, [the game against Porto] was my last game. I want to thank all the people at the club and all the supporters. Benfica will be forever in my heart. I played here two and a half years, I gave my best in every practice, every game, and now is the right time to leave.

"I want to improve, I want to go to a better league and want to go to Chelsea. I also thank the president of Benfica... but I have wanted to leave and insisted on leaving."

very good player, but quite expensive IMO