Confirmation: Chelsea are 'very interested' in €50m star

Chelsea are linked with former player Nemanja Matic once again, by his agent.

Chelsea know all about Nemanja Matic, after all - he is a player they used to own, traded away as a footnote in the deal which bought David Luiz to the club in January 2011.

SEE ALSO: Mourinho's refusal to rotate hampers Chelsea

The young Serbian, back then, even played twice for the Blues, but Carlo Ancelotti made the costly decision to allow him to join Benfica.

There he quickly began impressing and established himself, and was awarded with a new contract in January of this year - which contained a huge buyout clause.
Chelsea and Manchester United have been regularly linked with the player, and this Autumn Liverpool were credited with joining the race.


There is one club in the player's heart however, with Matic making a come-and-get-me plea in August to Chelsea, which failed to materialise: "To be honest I would like to stay for another year in Lisbon, but surely if someone like Mourinho wanted to bring me back to London, it would be a chance to prove that I can play in the Premier League."

Now, as rumoured, it can be confirmed that the feeling is mutual, thanks to comments from the player's influential agent, Jorge Mendes.

He told Italian website IlSussidiario, who quizzed him on Juventus' interest: "He has a release clause of 50 million euro I do not think that Juventus wants to pay for it. Benfica could deal a lower price, but would still be high. The Bianconeri already has a very strong midfield and I think they will intervene in other departments. Moreover, there is Chelsea who is very interested and would like to bring him back to London."

How does Mendes know this? Well it's quite simple: he is Jose Mourinho's agent too.
A done deal? Not quite. But you can bet when Chelsea do want to move on this, in January or next summer - which we suspect is most likely, they will get it done. If any other clubs make a move, Mendes can let Mourinho know, and Chelsea can kick his plan into action.

Do you expect Matic to head back to Chelsea next summer?