It’s too early to claim Nemanja Matic’s move to Manchester United as a success. In fact, it’s too early to claim it to be anything at all. One Premier League game, even one brilliant Premier League, doesn’t make a season.
What does seem more certain, though, is that Matic will play a different role for United than the one he was occupying at Chelsea. Under Antonio Conte, the Serbian was on sentry duty, patrolling the middle of the pitch with N’Golo Kante and building the block which kept so many of the team’s opponents locked within their own half last season.
Matic was successful in 2016/17, but it’s important to recognise the variation in his game which took place after Jose Mourinho left the club. He was still a central midfielder, of course, still with many of the same responsibilities, but he was used in a diluted way. His attacking function was altered by the primacy of Conte’s wing-backs while, clearly, the bulk of the defensive burden fell on Kante’s shoulders. Matic was still a useful player and one deserving of a league winner’s medal, but he never seemed a proper fit for that in-between position – at least in the sense that it didn’t demonstrate his range as a midfielder.
His competitive Manchester United debut showed the rainbow. West Ham may have been borderline unprofessional at Old Trafford, but Matic’s influence pulsed through the game. He broke up attacks, retrieved the ball, and demonstrated a breadth of passing which hadn’t been seen since 2015. It was one game, yes, but it was hard not to seduced by it. Seeing what he enabled his teammates to do, it was tempting to conclude that his signing will be a gear-changer for a United team which has been stuck in second.
Which, of course, doesn’t exactly flatter Chelsea – and that’s become the story: how could the decision makers in south-west London strengthen a rival and embolden a former manager? Put like that, it sounds almost negligent. Add the implication that Conte was against the sale and it definitely does.
Beyond that scuffle though, there’s an argument for saying that the player Chelsea have lost and the one Manchester United have gained are not entirely equal. It might be a point better made after a few more appearances and with the help of some illustrative statistics – and, of course, once Timoue Bakayoko has begun his Premier League career – but the variation between the two roles makes the surrounding debate about his transfer rather redundant. Ultimately, if Conte truly thought him vital, he wouldn’t have spent such a large sum on a replacement. By contrast, Jose Mourinho is in charge of a side with different strengths and weakness, who play in a different shape, and employ an opposing style.
It’s different – but, because it’s a transfer involving Manchester United and Chelsea, there’s a false necessity to the melodrama. One side must have won, the other must have lost; somebody has surely been conned. Perhaps it’s a supporter thing? Maybe the satisfaction of the modern transfer deal depends on the perception that a rival has had something of great importance stolen away. Whatever the explanation, it’s a highly British reaction.
Around the turn of the millennium, top Serie A sides developed a habit of selling elite players to one another: Filippo Inzaghi moved between Juventus and AC Milan, Christian Vieri was sold by Lazio to Internazionale, and Gianluigi Buffon and Hernan Crespo left Parma for Juventus and Lazio respectively. English clubs have rarely done the same. Maybe it’s because the risk is perceived to be too great or, more plausibly, because the concentration of power within a small number of geographical rivalries makes it too difficult to cross boundaries. Whatever the explanation, when that kind of transfer actually happens it’s unusual enough to breed suspicion.
But isn’t this one of those instances in which everyone wins? Manchester United’s probable improvement might be inconvenient for Chelsea, but the Matic sale has paid for their own evolution and, should they be as active as they’re anticipated to be before the window’s close, they’re unlikely to be mourning his departure once September begins.