25-year old Nemanja Matic is on the verge of resigning for his old club Chelsea for £22M.
The Serbian midfielder signed for Chelsea as a youngster from MFK Košice for ~£1.5M in August 2009 before making the switch to Benfica in a £21M swap deal that involved the transfer of David Luiz to Chelsea. Now Matic is set to return to the Bridge.
Just can't resist the Blue lure, can you Mr. Matic?
UK-bound: Matic boards his flight
Next stop Stamford Bridge: Matic caught on camera @ Berkeley Hotel, London
“Yes, it was my last game [Benfica 2-0 FC Porto]. I want to thank all the people at the club and all the supporters. Benfica will be forever in my heart. I played here for two and a half years, I gave my best in every practice session, 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 play for Chelsea, a club which I also like," the Serb told A Bola.
“I also thank the president of Benfica, who did everything he could to keep me here but I have wanted to leave and insisted on leaving. I respect the effort made to keep me at Benfica, and all the people of Benfica were very good to me, made me happy, but I repeat that I insisted on going out as I feel that the time is right.”
Matic will shore up a Chelsea defensive midfield that already contains the likes of 2013 CAF African Player of the Year finalist Obi Mikel, club legend Lampard, Oriel Romeu, former Benfica teammate Ramires and Essien.
Nemanja Matic: One of the best defensive midfielders in world football