Chelsea Transfer News: Mourinho wants Nemanja Matic, offers up Darmian

A series of player-manager reunions may shape up when the summer transfer window opens, as Jose Mourinho wants Nemanja Matic to join him at Old Trafford and Antonio Conte may welcome Matteo Darmian to Stamford Bridge.

Last week the transfer rumor mill was in high gear that Antonio Conte was planning to raid Manchester United for Italy international Matteo Darmian. If today’s rumor mill is to be believed, Manchester United may be more than willing to part with Darmian in return for Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic.

The Mirror reports today that Jose Mourinho views Matic as the ideal partner to recent signing Eric Bailly in a physically imposing central midfield.

Matic and Mourinho have a long history, as Jose Mourinho brought Nemanja Matic back to Chelsea in 2014 on a £21 million transfer from Benfica. To get Matic to Old Trafford, Mourinho is now offering Chelsea their choice from a menu of Manchester United players, starting with Matteo Darmian. For his part, Matic would welcome the move to United to once more work under the Portuguese.

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Darmian failed to impress at Manchester United, despite putting up comparable or even improved defensive numbers compared to his previous two seasons at Torino. Last season at United, Darmian averaged 3 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 1.9 clearances per game. The year before, at Torino, he put up 2.6 tackles, 1.3 interceptions and 1.7 clearances per game.

Going up the pitch on offense, though, is where Darmian showed a significant drop in form. Darmian only had one goal and zero assists for the Red Devils, and notched only one-third of his shots per game and one-quarter of the key passes he executed for Torino.

By comparison, during his last full season under Mourinho, Matic averaged 3.6 tackles per game, 1.8 interceptions and 1.5 clearances. More importantly, Matic mastered the intangibles in 2014/15. He was an ice-cold, fearsome shutdown presence in Chelsea’s midfield. His long legs and control over the run of play made him the fulcrum of Chelsea’s two-way play, squelching the opposition’s drive and immediately sending Chelsea onto the front foot.

If Mourinho is prepared to make a straight swap to unload current Manchester United players and replace them with his favorites, former Blue Juan Mata has to feel that he is next to receive his marching orders. Meanwhile, Conte will likely welcome Mourinho’s offer to have another familiar face from the Serie A and the Italian national team join his roster at Stamford Bridge.

Next: Chelsea FC summer homework: Midfielders

The greatest risk for Conte is assembling a squad too heavy in Serie A players that may not be ready to play a full Premier League season under the pressure and microscope that Chelsea will face. With rumors swirling around Leonardo Bonucci and Radja Nainggolan, Chelsea may be heavy on players that are light when it comes to the demands of the Premier League.