Chelsea star Nemanja Matic ‘agrees personal terms’ with Manchester United to link up with Jose Mourinho

CHELSEA midfielder Nemanja Matic has reportedly agreed personal terms with Manchester United.

According to the , the Serbian is set to reunite with Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.

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Matic has previously been keen on a reunion with Mourinho after their previous two-year spell together at Stamford Bridge.

But their relationship has not always been rosy after Mourinho subbed Matic on, only to bring him back off again 28 minutes later during a 3-1 defeat to Southampton in 2015.

Matic later confessed the incident at Stamford Bridge against Saints made him feel terrible.

But the defensive midfielder is a great professional and has a strong mentality, which is hugely admired by Mourinho.

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Mourinho was the man who brought Matic to the Premier League, after signing him from Benfica in 2014.

The Portuguese boss, whose interest in Matic was revealed by SunSport last month, has repaired his relationship with Spanish midfielder Juan Mata after they were also reunited at Manchester United last summer.

With Matic's arrival seeming imminent, this may end United's interest in Tottenham star Eric Dier and Monaco's man Tiemoue Bakayoko.

Nemanja Matic factfile

• Born in Sabac, Serbia, in August, 1988.
• He began his career aged five at Vrelo, where he was coached by his father, just 500m from his house.
• In 2005 he signed for Serbian club Kolubara, and then moved to Slovakian side Kosice in 2007.
• He spent time on trial at Middlesbrough before Chelsea beat Sunderland and Tottenham to sign him in August 2009 for £1.5million.
• After two first team games, Chelsea sent him on loan to Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem.
• In January 2011 Matic was sold to Benfica along with £21million in exchange for Brazil defender David Luiz.
• He flourished at Benfica, was named Portuguese Player of the Year and reached the Europa League final, where they were beaten by Chelsea.
• In January 2014, Chelsea, under manager Jose Mourinho, signed him back for £21million, and he made his second Chelsea debut against Man Utd.
• He has won two Premier League titles in three seasons at Chelsea, and last season played 40 games, scoring twice including a stunning strike in the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham.
• Matic is a strong tackling defensive midfielder who is tactically disciplined and at 6ft 4in tall is very good in the air.
• His brother Uros is also a professional footballer, with FC Copenhagen.
• He is married to childhood sweetheart Aleksandra, who he met at school, and they have two children.

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This isn't the first time Chelsea have flogged a first-team player to a rival Premier League club - with Juan Mata joining Man Utd and Petr Cech joining Arsenal.

Last summer Chelsea made a huge effort to keep hold of Matic but this time around they are willing to let him leave.

Matic's departure now opens the door for Bakayoko to take his place in Chelsea's midfield.