Manchester United turn to third-choice target Nemanja Matic in frustrating summer.. Matt Law, football news correspondent
26 JUNE 2017 • 6:18PM
Jose Mourinho is facing the prospect of having to take his third-choice midfield target – Nemanja Matic – in what is already proving to be a frustrating summer for the Manchester United manager.
Telegraph Sport understands that Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier and Roma’s Radja Nainggolan were Mourinho’s first and second choice pick in midfield, but United have made little progress on either man.
United are more confident over Matic, who has so far refused to sign a new Chelsea contract and is set to face increased competition at Stamford Bridge with the anticipated arrival of Tiemoue Bakayoko.Chelsea would rather not sell Matic, but will have to listen to an offer in the region of £40million for a player whose contract expires in two years and turns 29 on August 1.
Although they would prefer not to provide a solution for a rival, Chelsea stand to make a £5m profit on the signing of 22-year-old Bakayoko for £35m and the departure of Matic.United are waiting for Chelsea to complete the signing of Bakayoko from Monaco before making their move for Matic, but are aware the Serb is interested in heading to Old Trafford.
Chelsea have been attempting to negotiate a new contract with Matic for the past 18 months, but have failed to find an agreement with the former Benfica man.
Matic can earn more than £150,000-a-week by joining United and is apparently happy to link up with Mourinho again, despite the pair sharing an up-and-down relationship at Stamford Bridge.
It was Mourinho who instructed Chelsea to re-sign Matic in January 2014 and that transfer was crucial to the club’s Premier League title success the following season.
But Matic was among Chelsea’s worst performers in Mourinho’s doomed third season and the Portuguese had to defend himself against accusations of humiliating the player after substituting him 27 minutes after he had come off the bench in the 3-1 home defeat to Southampton.
The fact Mourinho looks set to be reunited with Matic, having wanted Dier and Nainggolan ahead of him, underlines the difficult summer United are currently enduring.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy values Dier at over £50m, while sources close to Nainggolan currently rate the chances of the Belgian leaving Roma for United as “highly doubtful.”
United believed they had virtually clinched the signing of Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann before the 26-year-old decided to remain in Spain, while another of Mourinho’s targets, Romelu Lukaku, prefers a move to Chelsea.
Alvaro Morata has agreed to move to United in principle with Mourinho, but United are still working to agree a fee with Real Madrid and get the deal over the line.
United have signed defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica, but Mourinho had been hoping for greater progress on his top targets at this point in the summer.
Back in May, Mourinho made it clear that any failure to make star signings this summer would not be his as he said: “Ed Woodward has my list, what I want, what I would like for more than two months. So now it is up to him and the owners.”
United have distanced themselves from reports linking them with Monaco’s Fabinho, but did make a check on Bakayoko before finding out that he wants to join Chelsea.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/06/26/manchester-united-turn-third-choice-target-nemanja-matic-frustrating/
