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Matic

Chelsea aren't the only ones who made a Matic mistakeWe all know the story by now, I think. In early 2011, Chelsea had the rights to a young Serbian midfielder named Nemanja Matic, who was, naturally, on loan at Vitesse Arnhem. The Blues were also in desperate need of a centre back, and Benfica were in possession of a rather promising one named David Luiz. On deadline day, the two clubs were having trouble agreeing a deal to bring the curly-haired Brazilian to Stamford Bridge -- until Matic was added in as a makeweight.

Matic's inclusion in that transfer probably saved the Blues something like €5 million at the time. But it was never a particularly great idea, considering his potential. And here we are three years later, having to pay (we hope) something like five times that much to bring him back again. It's enough to make the club look a wee bit short-sighted.

Hilariously, though, Chelsea aren't the ones who made the biggest financial mistake on Matic in the past few years. Check this out:


Jake Cohen @JakeFCohen
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Benfica originally owed TPO 25% of Matic's rights (from D. Luiz deal). TPO elected to take €500k instead. Oops.
Chelsea might have under-valued Matic by a lot, but at least they didn't get it that wrong. Had the third-part owners -- in this case the Benfica Stars fund -- waited until this sale, they'd have made something like €7.5 million -- 1400 percent more than they actually got. Oops indeed.
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From WAGNH http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/1/13/5304432/nemanja-matic-finances

 
If you can get over what he used to be worth and look at the need and a tidy profit flogging KDB I think if it happens he's a good buy

If he adapts fast and solidifies the 2 in front of the back 4 we will be looking good, is he CL cup tied ?

He is cup tied in CL

 
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The Guardian reporting it as pretty much a done deal:

"Chelsea are to re-sign Nemanja Matic for an eye-catching fee of around £22m, a vastly inflated price from the valuation attached to the Serbia midfielder when he was allowed to leave and join Benfica three years ago.

 
Matic is due at Cobham on Tuesday to undertake a medical with the clubs close to agreeing a price for the 25-year-old, who has been capped nine times. The defensive midfielder had pushed for a return to Stamford Bridge after a hugely impressive spell in Lisbon, with the outlay to bring him back to England to fall well short of the £37m buy-out clause in the player's contract. He is expected to sign a contract to 2017.
 
Yet the fee remains remarkable given Chelsea had considered Matic to be only a makeweight in the deal which brought David Luiz from Benfica in the 2011 mid-winter window, the midfielder's valuation at the time being placed at around £3m. The vast difference will be partly offset by the sale of Kevin De Bruyne to Wolfsburg for around £18m, with that transfer finally to be concluded in the next 24 hours."
 
 
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/13/jose-mourinho-chelsea-nemanja-matic
 
Well 22 million is still a far cry from some of the other figures bandied about earlier in the season.

 
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Is this guy really the answer to our midfield needs? Does he look like the next Frank? I dont know enough about him. Its weird were signing a player for 20+ mil this morning and its no big deal. I hope he shows me that i should have made a big deal about it..

 
I also wonder what his wages will be like compared to de Bruyne's, considering de Bruyne is probably the more famous player and clearly likes to get his own way.

If we end up [effectively] swapping de Bruyne for Matic + £3m but on lower wages it's a bit of a coup for our squad.

 
Another good article about the two deals on WAGNH:

http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/1/14/5306994/chelsea-rebalance-squad

From the conclusion:

But football clubs cannot be run on emotion alone. The squad is out of balance, and this week we'll see Michael Emenalo take the first big step in fixing it. Sending a sixth-choice player, albeit one with bags of potential, to the Bundesliga in exchange for a hefty profit is a good enough move. When that money is then turned into one of Portugal's best midfielders, we've made a massive improvement to the team without too much in the way of a sacrifice.

A player who's never getting minutes in exchange for someone we expect to be a regular starter? For the rest of this season, that's a no-brainer. And if de Bruyne turns into an elite player who we 'let get away' for 20 million... what do we think the chances are that he turns out better than one of Eden Hazard or Oscar?
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Great work by Emenalo if we somehow managed to buy Matic for "just" £22m. Thats a bargain in todays market for the best midfielder in Portugal.

 
Very athletic lad. He's covered the most ground in the champions league this season, so he's perfect for our high pressing.

Another danger at set pieces is welcome too.

 
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9115579/transfer-news-nemanja-matic-confirms-he-is-leaving-benfica-for-chelsea?

Nemanja Matic has stated to A Bola that he has played his last game for Benfica and that he wants rejoin Chelsea.

The 25-year-old spent two years with Chelsea before leaving in 2011 in the deal which brought David Luiz from Benfica.

Matic has since emerged as one of the top midfielders in Europe and now he is in line for a move back to Stamford Bridge.

Reports in Portugal claim that Chelsea will pay around £25million for the Serb, and also send winger Gael Kakuta to the Estadio da Luz on loan.

Matic has now confirmed that the weekend win over Porto was his last game and told A Bola: "The game against FC Porto was my last game for Benfica.

"I want to thank everyone at the club and all the fans. Benfica will forever be in my heart.

"I played here for two-and-a-half years, gave my best at every training session, and now it is the right moment to leave.

"I want to improve, I want to play in a better league and I want to go to Chelsea, a club I also love.

"I would also like to thank Benfica's president, he did everything he could to keep me, but I wanted to leave.

"I insisted on leaving because I think this is the right moment."

 
Duncan Castles has a full version.

A Bola: Can you guarantee that the game against Porto was your last in the service of Benfica? 

Matic: "Yes, it was my last game. I want to thank all the people at the club and all the supporters. Benfica will forever be in my heart. I played here two and a half years, I gave my best in every training session, every game, and now is the right time to leave. I want to improve, I want to go to a better league and I want to go to Chelsea, the club which I also love. I also thank the president of Benfica, who did everything he could to keep me here but I have wanted to leave and I insisted on leaving. I respect the effort made ??to keep me at the club, he and all the people of Benfica were very good to me, they made ??me happy, but I repeat that I insisted on going because I understood that the moment is right." 

How is your relationship with Benfica's president Luis Filipe Vieira? 

“We have a perfect relationship because he is a good man and a good president, very fond of club. He really tried everything to keep me, but my decision was made. I leave with Benfica in my heart. 

Do you think the fans will understand your decision? 
NM: “I hope so, sincerely. I have always given my best for the team, the club and the supporters. I hope they recognize that and understand my position and my desire. 

It is true that on the eve of the Porto game you did not prepare with the team as a way of exerting pressure? 
NM: “No. The only truth in this story is that I went to the concentration a few hours late, I was authorized by the club to deal with personal problems and after that I went quickly to Seixal. 

“I wanted to go to Chelsea, even if Benfica had better options. I was very young when I was at Chelsea and I didn't show all I could. Now I want to show that I have quality to play there. It's a top club and I want to work with one of the best managers in the world. 

“When I first went to Chelsea I was very young and there were great players in my position. I really had few chances to play back then. Now it's different: I'm 25, I'm not the same player who left Chelsea. I'm sure [Abramovich] knows that. Now I have the chance to go back and work with one of the best manager in the world.”

 
Sindre said:
Great work by Emenalo if we somehow managed to buy Matic for "just" £22m. Thats a bargain in todays market for the best midfielder in Portugal.
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Yes, considering Benfica sold Axel Witsel for €40m. Then €25m for Matic, who is arguably a better player,doesn't look like a bad deal.

 
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