Manchester United end Nemanja Matic interest following Lukaku gazump — report

By all indications, Manchester United stole a beat on Chelsea in the Romelu Lukaku transfer saga, leaving fans, staff, and the club reeling. This is not a good feeling, even if Lukaku was not a consensus first-choice to replace Diego Costa. With a medical set to take part in Los Angeles where Lukaku and future teammate Paul Pogba are already preparing for pre-season, it is safe to say that Chelsea’s chances of welcoming back the prodigal son have grown quite slim over the past 24 hours.

Another side effect of this potential deal will be felt in the Nemanja Matic situation, where, according to the Telegraph, United will drop their interest expecting Chelsea to now put their foot down and not lose another player to the Red Devils this summer. United are expected to focus their efforts on Tottenham's Eric Dier and Borussia Dortmund's Julian Weigl instead, while they pat themselves on the back for their diversion tactics of propping up interest on Álvaro Morata just to take Romelu Lukaku instead.

It would be downright spineless of Chelsea to conduct any kind of business with United this summer, especially one that would directly reinforce their squad, following the Lukaku coup. That said, Matic staying could have a negative effect on Nathaniel Chalobah's situation, who’s in talks over his future with the club and expected to be sold to Watford should he not get assurances of playing time. With Tiemoue Bakayoko finally ready to sign — finally finally maybe — here is yet another tough situation for Chelsea to navigate.

Oh, joy!