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/

a great cdm, hope he will cover the defensive duty of juan mata, and help mata to shine as no 10 in mourinho system

Cech
Ivanovic - Cahill - Terry - A. Cole (D.Luiz, Azpilicueta, Bertrand)
Ramires - Matic (Lampard, D.Luiz, Marco Van Ginkel, Essien)
Hazard - Oscar - Willian (Mata, Schurrle)
Torres

Best on loan players that are ready to play in the starting XI or Rotation:

Lukaku, Courtois, Piazon, Atsu, Aké, Chalobah. The other players are still too young and can wait for 2-3 years.

The Serbia international says he has played his last game for Benfica, a
2-0 win over Porto, and has agreed a five-and-a-half year contract with
Jose Mourinho's side

Nemanja Matic is set for a Chelsea medical on Tuesday after agreeing the terms of a £20.7 million move from Benfica, Goal understands. ( http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2892/transfer-zone/2014/01/14/4543190/matic-confirms-chelsea-move )

I always said to my friends that just trust in jose he know better now he buy defending midfielder and in summer he will buy a pure striker so always hope for better

He is 90% back! :)

"yaya toure has a true rival in midfield now" this, made my day. thanks @kambingku
Yes, whatever nowadasys 20 million pounds are like nothing for Chelsea

He's having a medical at Cobham now! I can't believe we're finally signing a world class CDM!

Sky sources understand that Nemanja Matic is expected to complete his return to Chelsea today.

( http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9116896/ )

chelsea sold a bronze, but they bought back a gold.. 20m for portugal's best player in 12/13 is a bargain, his release clause was about 37m

25 millions is bargain for Chelsea. Simply Good Guy Chelsea donating Benfica