Chelsea sold Nemanja Matic to Manchester United because he was desperate to quit and would never have signed a new deal, according to a reliable journalist.
Sky Sports correspondent Kaveh Solkehol has claimed on his personal Twitter account that the west London club were keen to hold on to the midfield anchorman and tie him to a new contract.
But the Serbia international, 29, had other ideas and was not going to sign a new agreement to replace a deal that was due to expire in the summer of 2019.
Solkehol admitted he was puzzled that Chelsea opted to offload a key player in two title wins to a direct rival, which was a stance shared by fans of both clubs as well as pundits on Sunday evening.
Chelsea wanted to keep Matic but he wanted to go. Had two years left on contract & wasn’t going to sign new deal. Why sell to rival though?
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) August 13, 2017
Matic, who completed a £40million transfer at the end of last month, made a hugely impressive Premier League debut for United this afternoon as they demolished West Ham 4-0 at Old Trafford.
A double from Romelu Lukaku and goals from Paul Pogba and substitute Anthony Martial got United’s league campaign off to a winning start.
OPINION
Little wonder pundits and fans are scratching their heads at this one. Chelsea deserve credit for their transfer market activity in recent years. Clearly, a club that has won two titles in three seasons gets more right than it gets wrong, and their ability to generate massive fees and profits on players who can’t get anywhere near their first team is unmatched in the Premier League. But the champions have got the Matic deal wrong. Badly wrong. And Conte appears to share that view judging by his public comments. The Serbian is not a game-changing matchwinner in the mould of fellow summer signing Lukaku, but he is an experienced and rock-solid performer who consistently does his job very well and allows those around him to play better. It is money well spent by United, who recognise that he has instantly made them a better team.