Chelsea are prepared to let Nemanja Matic leave the Stamford Bridge to rivals Manchester United as long as they meet their £50m asking price, according to reports.
Matic wants to leave Chelsea after growing frustrated over lack of first team football due to the arrival of Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco.
Inter Milan and Juventus looked like they were going to be his most likely destination, especially after Manchester United beat the Blues to the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Everton.
However, Chelsea are surprisingly still prepared to do business with one of their main threats to their title hopes despite being upset over losing out on Lukaku.
It is believed that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic won’t block the Serbian’s departure to Old Trafford as a sign of his gratitude for helping the Blues win the title in 2015 and 2017.
It is not the first time that Abramovich has acted in such a way having allowed Petr Cech to join Arsenal in 2015.
Matic has been unhappy at Chelsea for sometime and was to joining Juventus and Liverpool last summer only for coach Antonio Conte to prevent the switch.
The Italian manager wants player who are fully committed to the club and significantly the Serbian was allowed to to stay behind at the club to arrange his departure rather than fly out with the squad on their pre-season tour of there Far East.
Matic joining Manchester United will see him reunited with former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who was in charge when the Blues bought him back from Benfica for £21m in 2014 having sold him to the Portuguese side three years before.
Mourinho wants a physical presence in midfield and with Tottenham refusing to sell Eric Dier, Matic is his favoured choice.
Manchester United still have to meet Chelsea’s demands – they have offered only £35m so far but will need to find another £15m to get their man.
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