Matic to become Pogba’s minder
I would like a midfielder to give us more balance
NEMANJA MATIC’S arrival at Manchester United could turn out to be their best piece of business this summer – if it frees Paul Pobga to wreak havoc.
The reunion between United manager Jose Mourinho and his former Chelsea midfielder will come at a hefty £40million price tag – almost twice the fee the Blues paid Benfica for Matic six years ago.
Pogba’s return to United last season drew mixed reviews, with Mourinho leading the cheerleaders who claimed his form justified his status.
But with Pogba all too often required to take up a defensive midfield role for Mourinho in the last campaign, it was difficult to make the case that the young Frenchman looked an £89m footballer.
When freed to use his power and pace in the opposition half, Pogba did threaten enough to suggest he should be more than capable of adding to the five league goals he scored last season, not least because he also struck the woodwork six times. Ander Herrera, one of United’s most consistent performers last term, could be another to benefit from Matic’s ability to provide cover for Mourinho’s back four. Matic also offers Mourinho some added tactical flexibility, playing either as the solitary holding midfielder or, on occasion, operating alongside a team-mate in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Veteran Michael Carrick adds to the depth Mourinho can call upon for that role. Serbian Matic’s 6ft4in stature also satisfies an apparently important Mourinho requirement as the United manager continues his tendency to recruit players who would look just as at home on a basketball court as a football field. Pogba and Eric Bailly last summer, and Romelu Lukaku and Victor Lindelof this, all tower way over six feet and will help make United physically daunting opponents if nothing else.
There should be little excuse for a lack of results from setpieces, at both ends of the field. Short term, Matic’s arrival this week will also serve the important function of appeasing Mourinho, who had grown increasingly vocal during the club’s tour of the United States about their failure to add the final two bigmoney signings that he wanted to make this close season.
“I’m happy with my squad but I’d like two more players,” said Mourinho last week.
“A midfield player that would give me more balance, more options to the team.”
Matic ticks that box and, as Mourinho went on to talk about his final target being an attacking player who could operate on either flank, he was clearly referring to Ivan Perisic, the £48m-rated Inter Milan star whom the Italian club have so far insisted is not leaving. Mourinho’s comments were taken as one of the manager’s trademark passive-aggressive complaints, aimed in the direction of the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.
It was probably no coincidence that, within days of Mourinho’s statement, a deal for Matic was clinched.
United were reluctant to pay Chelsea’s £40m asking price for a player who turns 29 tomorrow.
However, the fact that Mourinho managed to deliver two trophies and Champions League football in his first season at Old Trafford has certainly strengthened his bargaining position with his employers.
Now the pressure and focus will return to Woodward in the United boardroom.
He must now attempt to convince Inter Milan to do business for Perisic with the start of the new league season less than two weeks
away.