Chelsea, Man Utd and Roma - Why Mourinho loves Matic

James Shearman

• Updated: 20 Apr 2022 15:39 BST
• 3 min read

Jose Mourinho is keen to reunite with Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic at Roma next season.

The 33-year-old confirmed that he will be leaving the club after five seasons at Old Trafford, having signed for €44m in 2017.

His contract runs out at the end of the current campaign, meaning he will become available as a free agent.

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And, according to Tuttomercatoweb, Mourinho's Roma are already in contract negotiations with the Serbian.

The Serie A club will feel that the Portuguese boss is a major advantage in these talks, given the history of the pair.

Indeed, 'The Special One' signed Matic for Chelsea and then brought him to United, so this would be their third time working together.

Matic would be joining Chris Smalling, Tammy Abraham, Rui Patricio and Henrikh Mkhitaryan as players to have left the Premier League for Italy's capital in recent years.

Why Mourinho loves Matic

Nemanja Matic is exactly the sort of player that Jose Mourinho loves to have in his teams - especially in the centre of midfield.

A tall, strong build in the middle of the park, with the ability to play also, Matic embodies Mourinho's desire to be difficult to play against.

He has the defensive awareness and physicality to win the ball from the opposition, but also the talent to drive forward with the ball on the counter attack.

Now, despite making 19 appearances in the Premier League this season, he is no longer capable of performing to the same level in the world's toughest league.

However, there is plenty of football left in the former Benfica man, who could excel in Serie A working under a familiar face.

''Nemanja is a Manchester United player and a Jose Mourinho player,'' Mourinho said when the player was unveiled at United.

''He represents everything we want in a footballer – loyalty, consistency, ambition, team player.

''I would like to thank him for his desire to join us because without that, it would be impossible to have him here.”