Manchester United are close to signing Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic from Chelsea for £40m.




Matic, 28, would be United's third summer buy, following £31m defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica and £75m striker Romelu Lukaku from Everton.

Speaking after Sunday's 3-0 pre-season victory over Valerenga, United manager Jose Mourinho - who signed Matic for Chelsea - said: "We are waiting for news. He wants it very much.

Mourinho spent £21m in January 2014 to sign Matic from Benfica for a second spell at 
Stamford Bridge.
Jose Mourinho has revealed that Nemanja Matic is desperate to finalise a move to Manchester United.

He, however, refused to confirm if the transfer has been finalised.

The Chelsea midfielder reportedly underwent a medical on Sunday and a picture of him wearing United training gear, leaked on social media.

“I know that he wants it very, very much and when a player wants it very, very much, the chance is bigger.

“We have a chance. In football, until it’s official, I saw many things happen… I refuse to say more than I’m telling you now.”

Mourinho also insisted he is not aware if a medical was conducted while he has been with the senior squad in Norway.

“I don’t know because I was not there,” he said.

“Number 31 is a free number. It was Schweinsteiger but it’s a free jersey. We have a few free.”



The midfielder scored once in 35 Premier League appearances during Chelsea's title-winning 2016-17 season, but also struck spectacularly in their FA Cup semi-final victory over Tottenham in April.

His exit had been expected after the Blues signed France international Tiemoue Bakayoko, 22, from French champions Monaco in a reported £40m deal earlier this month.

Italian champions Juventus were also understood to be keen on Matic.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Kyrie Irving dominated Game 4

Image
CLEVELAND - Kyrie Irving broke his own record for points in a playoff game by a LeBron James teammate Tuesday, scoring a career-playoff-high 42 in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 112-99 Game 4 victory over the Boston Celtics. The performance helped the Cavs overcome a 16-point deficit and grab a 3-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals. They will try to make it to the NBA Finals for a third consecutive season in Game 5 in Boston on Thursday. Irving's previous career playoff high was 41 points, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals last season against the Golden State Warriors. That had been the most points a James teammate had scored in the postseason. In this one, Irving scored 36 of his points following James fourth foul with just less than seven minutes remaining in the first half, which forced James to the bench. Irving peaked in the third quarter, scoring 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting on a series of unrelenting drives to the basket through the Celtics' defense. Irving played th...
Read more

France defeated Denmark in the final of the inaugural Star Sixes at the O2 in London

Image
The inaugural Star Sixes tournament has come to a close as France's legion of legends, including Robert Pires and Youri Djokaeff, lifted the trophy at London’s O2 after defeating surprise finalists Denmark.   Here’s the full story of the tournament complete with results. England, skippered by Steven Gerrard, fell at the quarter-final stage to Denmark having come through a group with Spain, Scotland and Mexico while the likes of Brazil, Germany and Italy were also among the 12 nations involved.    Here, we have the full tournament results and group standings, daily round-ups from all four days (July 13-16) and the full list of legends who were taking part.  Star Sixes: Day four round-up   France were crowned champions of the inaugural Betsafe Star Sixes with a 2-1 win over Denmark in Sunday night's final at the O2 Arena. France, captained by Arsenal legend Robert Pires, beat Spain 5-2 in the semi-finals before rounding off the star-studded f...
Read more

Romelu Lukaku named Everton Player of the Season by teammates and fans.

Image
Romelu Lukaku thanked manager Ronald Koeman for making him a better footballer after being named Everton's Player of the Season by both his teammates and the supporters. Lukaku, 23, picked up the Players' Player of the Season award and the Player of the Season trophy chosen by Everton fans at the club's end-of-season awards night on Tuesday. The Belgium international, linked with a summer exit from Goodison Park, has scored 25 goals in all competitions, with 24 of those coming in the Premier League. He said he was not always an easy guy and thanked Koeman for helping him reach the next level. Lukaku leads the race for the Premier League's Golden Boot, having scored three more than nearest rival Harry Kane of Tottenham with two games remaining  although Spurs have a game in hand. I'm very happy, he said in a speech accepting the awards. I want to thank the manager for pushing me, even though sometimes I'm not always an easy guy. He's taken me to ...
Read more