Chelsea sold Nemanja Matic, Nathaniel Chalobah with no midfield strategy

Chelsea selling Nemanja Matic to Manchester United makes less sense with each passing day’s revelations. The sale itself may be just one part of a much larger midfield mismanagement.

We’re old enough to remember when the biggest debacle of Chelsea’s summer transfer window was Romelu Lukaku signing with Manchester United. That may have been the splashiest incident, but selling Nemanja Matic to United may be the most consequential.

Over the last few weeks nearly of all of football punditry has expressed their puzzlement at the sale. Most observers simply could not understand why Chelsea would sell an experienced, proven player like Nemanja Matic to a rival. While £40 million was more than any other team would have likely paid, the extra money does not compensate for strengthening Jose Mourinho.

Now that Antonio Conte is weighing in on the matter, though, the extent of the transfer mismanagement is becoming far more evident. In last Friday’s press conference he abruptly shut down a question on Matic, brusquely attributing the decision to the board. Conte’s most recent comments not only call into question Chelsea’s thought process, but Matic’s as well.

"[Tiemoue] Bakayoko is a good signing for us. He is very young. My idea was to give Bakayoko the right time to adapt in this league behind Matic. But now after the sale of Matic, we need to try to accelerate this process for Bakayoko after his injury. – Evening Standard"

Chelsea knew the extent of Bakayoko’s injury when they signed him. They knew on July 15, the official day of his transfer, that he would not be available for the first few weeks of the season. Which means they sold Nemanja Matic on July 31 knowing that they did not have a player ready to go.

Even beyond the question of who will start on opening day and the next few weeks, Antonio Conte’s comments imply that he wanted Bakayoko as a future prospect, not an immediate regular. Matic wanted to leave – and Chelsea sold him – when no one stood in his way.

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As Michy Batshuayi and Alvaro Morata can attest, Antonio Conte does not put players into his starting XI without a lengthy training and conditioning period. Batshuayi, coming from the same league as Bakayoko, needed a full year “to adapt in this league.” Even a fully healthy Bakayoko may not have been in Antonio Conte’s plans for the first part of the season, given these comments.

Conte went on to say “we are trying to find another midfielder. Because now we have only three midfielders and we need another midfielder.” This is another puzzling statement. Within the last month Chelsea had two other midfielders: Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

The desire for more and more consistent playing minutes drove Nathaniel Chalobah and Nemanja Matic to want to leave Chelsea. Chalobah also wanted to avoid another loan, which he felt was the only way he would see regular playing time while under contract at Chelsea.

These explanations are now less understandable. Antonio Conte unequivocally stated that Nemanja Matic would have been his starting midfielder alongside N’Golo Kante for at least the first half of the season. Matic would have been the solid incumbent in the role, leaving Bakayoko domestic cups to prove himself.

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Nathaniel Chalobah, given his year of training under Conte and his smattering of appearances, could also have been ahead of Bakayoko in the depth chart. Even with Matic as the starter, Bakayoko’s arrival did not adversely affect Chalobah’s season aside from providing some extra competition. And if Chelsea were considering selling Matic in early July, they could have delayed Chalobah’s sale so he could reassess his options after Matic’s departure.

The common thread seems to be a complete lack of coordination and communication. Did Nemanja Matic know that he would have started ahead of a healthy Tiemoue Bakayoko? Did Nathaniel Chalobah know that there might be an opening at central midfield if he waited around a few weeks, and that Bakayoko was a long-term project? Was Antonio Conte consulted on Matic’s sale? That appears to be an almost doubtless “no,” given his reaction at the press conference.

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Manchester United and their cronies manipulated Chelsea for weeks leading up to Romelu Lukaku’s transfer. Chelsea did not appear to need any outside help bungling their midfield situation. This was a 100% in-house self-own. At least Mino Raiola will not get a percent of this action.