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Hold on to your hats; the Nemanja Matić to Manchester United rumors, which have been percolating along merrily and quietly in the background of all the other transfer noise around Chelsea, are about to get turned up to 11. That’s one more than 10, if you dial goes that high. If it doesn’t, your radio is not cool enough. Fix that.
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But back to Matić. What has turned up the volume a little bit already is Chelsea reportedly coming close to finally finalizing the Tiemoué Bakayoko transfer from Monaco.
As we said in our scouting report and in our Summer Transfer Notebook, Bakayoko is essentially a younger Matić, and given that the older midfielder’s contract is expiring in two years and he was considering leaving last summer, too, it would not be the wildest conclusion to see him leave as the dominoes start to fall.
Into this slowly simmering cauldron drops the word from the Manchester Evening News this morning: Matić has agreed personal terms.
...it is understood [Matić] has verbally agreed personal terms. United just need to agree a fee with Chelsea, who might be more willing to sell once they have someone in to beef up their midfield.
-source: Manchester Evening News
So that’s not exactly the strongest wording from M.E.N., but it is strong enough to ratchet up the pressure in this situation. With Bakayoko all but done, Chelsea just might be willing to sell, indeed. Previous rumors claimed that Mourinho might be willing to go as high as £40m, even.