Matic keen to link up with Mourinho at Man Utd – report

Rob McCarthy
Nemanja Matic: Reports claim he could be sold for £18m

Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic wants to reunite with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, according to reports.

Mourinho was said to be keen on signing the Serbia international last summer but Blues boss Antonio Conte refused to sell.

However, with Chelsea now said to be closing in on Monaco powerhouse Tiemoue Bakayoko, it would seem that Matic could be surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge.

The M.E.N. claimed last week that Mourinho had targeted Matic as the holding midfielder he wanted to allow Paul Pogba to play a more attacking role next season.

While he holidays with his family, Mourinho is said to have left United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward with a list of four top names he wants to bring to Old Trafford this summer and Matic’s name is on that list.

Mourinho brought Matic back to Chelsea for £21million in January 2014, three years after Carlo Ancelotti sanctioned his sale to Benfica.

Chelsea target Bakayoko and Tottenham star Eric Dier are also contenders for the holding role at United, but Mourinho said earlier in the season that buying off United’s top four rivals would be virtually impossible, although he did not mention Chelsea in that conversation.

“Here, everyone is powerful now. The scenery has changed. If I want to buy a player from Tottenham, I can’t,” he said. “Nor can I buy a player from Manchester City or Arsenal.

“That was not the case before. At Chelsea, I brought in Shaun Wright-Phillips, who was the best player at Manchester City or Ashley Cole from Arsenal. Sir Alex, when he wanted the best player from Tottenham, he bought Michael Carrick and then Berbatov.”

If he did move to Old Trafford, Matic would become the third Serbian to play for United after Nemanja Vidic and Zoran Tosic.