10 Things Chelsea Fans Should Know About £21m Midfield Target

After reading reports in the Telegraph that Chelsea were lining up a £21m bid for former player Nemanja Matic, I thought that I would put together 10 things that I think Chelsea fans should know about him.

1) Born in the old Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Matic spent his youth days playing between Serbian outfits Red Star Belgrade and Partizan before signing for Jedinstvo.

2) After a season he switched to MFK Kosice where he really made his name in the game, playing 70 games over four seasons.

3) It was then that Chelsea snapped him up for a reported fee of around £1.5m and took the number 24 shirt.

4) Injury kept him from reaching his potential and after just two games he was sent on loan to Vitesse of Holland, the current loan club of Chelsea Lucas Piazon, Patrick van Aanholt and Christian Atsu. Bertrand Traore and Cristian Cuevas are also on loan at the club from Chelsea.

5) Matic made 29 appearances in his loan season and was thought to have impressed enough for a spot back at the Blues, but he was then sold to Benfica in January of 2011.

6) He is currently in his third season at the Portuguese club and has played almost 100 games for them.

7) Last season he was named as the Primeira Ligue Player of the Year after some sublimeperformances in his 45 games.

8) Matic is a full Serbia international and has made nine appearances for the senior side.

9) Matic was part of the Chelsea squad that won the 2009/10 FA Cup.

10) Matic is a midfield player who is most comfortable in the holding role.