Finally, Nemanja Matic's deal looks like it may be close to being finalized. Even before the opening of the summer transfer window, he was heavily linked to reunite with his former boss, Jose Mourinho at Manchester United. Mourinho has been desperate to sign Nemanja Matic away from Chelsea.
Nemanja Matic played under Jose at Chelsea. Jose has been in a real need of a central midfielder like Matic who can free up the play in the midfield and take responsibilities. He also needed him to give world record signing Paul Pogba some liberty to play a more attacking role.
Now the deal is finally on its verge, and Manchester United can officially announce the completion of this deal by next one or two days.
Why Jose want Nemanja Matic
Jose Mourinho signed Matic in Chelsea on January 15, 2014, for a fee of around £21 million. He made his first debut under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. He played his first match under Jose as a substitute against Manchester United which ended in 3-1 win for Chelsea.
Jose included Matic's name in his starting 11 against Manchester City on February 3. Chelsea won that game and ended Manchester City's unbeaten run in the Barclays Premier League. Matic scored his first Premier League goal against Everton on 30th August 2014. Jose praised him in his post conference after winning that match against Everton by 6-3.
On April 26, 2015, Matic was named in the PFA Team of the Year while playing at Chelsea. That season wasn't so ideal for Chelsea as they finished 10th in the Barclays Premier League. Chelsea sacked Jose Mourinho for the poor managerial season, and he joined Manchester United in 2016 as their new manager.
Jose and Matic's relationship at Chelsea was so good right from the day Matic debuted as a starter in midfield under Jose.
Matic started almost every game for Chelsea in the 2014-15 season under Jose and same year won the Barclays Premier League.
What should Manchester United fans expect from Nemanja Matic?
Nemanja Matic is a holding midfield player alike current United player Macheal Carrick. He can join defenders during defense and can join attack till the 3/4 of the field.
There could be two main purposes behind his signing. First, it could be to replace Micheal Carrick during a match as Carrick is now 36-years-old or Micheal Carrick can replace him after 70-80 minutes played in a game.
The second purpose could be to liberate French midfielder, Paul Pogba. In Juve, Pogba was free to go into penalty area or join attack because Juve had midfielders like Pirlo and Vidal to take midfield responsibilities. Whereas at Manchester United he has not been that liberated to go with attack and take shots in the 18 yards box. But after the arrival of Matic, he can do the same job for United and play a dynamic midfield role.
The forthcoming season is going to be so competitive for every top team in the Barclays Premier League.
Every one of them has engaged heavily in the summer transfer windows and signing top players. Every one of them is hoping to win the 2017-18 Barclays Premier League. and compete in the Champions League.
