At the time of writing, Chelsea are on the verge of completing the signing of Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic from Benfica in a deal believed to be worth about £21 million.
Matic, who’s strength and excellent first touch make him an ideal holding midfielder, left Stamford Bridge only three years ago, being used as part-exchange in the deal that brought David Luiz to London. Mourinho, however, clearly sees the Serb as the next piece of the puzzle as he tries to make this season’s improving Chelsea team his own.
Since Claude Makelele left for Paris St-Germain in 2008, Chelsea have struggled to find a suitable replacement in front of the back four, with Jon Obi Mikel never quite making the position his own and latterly Ramires proving more effective further forward. Matic differs from Mikel in particular in that he is somewhat more creative, and is as comfortable starting moves off as he is breaking them up. David Luiz has been employed in the holding role a number of times over the last eighteen months at Chelsea, foremost for this very reason.
The Serb returns a much more established player, having now played 56 times for Benfica in all competitions, and having been named Primeira Liga Player of the Year for the 2012-13 season, his last full season at the Portuguese giants.
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