Eyebrows were raised in the summer when one of Mourinho’s first signings upon his return to Chelsea was Marco van Ginkel. The youngster from Vitesse Arnheim is without doubt an excellent prospect, but it was difficult to envision where exactly he would fit into a Chelsea squad already full of central midfielders. But having suffered an early injury, it remains to be seen if van Ginkel would have become a starter.
As the Premier League season progressed, it became very apparent what areas Chelsea were lacking. In defence, John Terry has undergone a terrific turnaround under Mourinho, and Cahill is a solid player, but centre back did seem a position requiring long term consideration. The weakest position though was and still is that of striker. A dearth of goals despite a host of chances has seen Chelsea fall behind in the title race, it becoming obvious that only out on loan forward Lukaku is of the required ability.
The one area that certainly did not appear to require strengthening was midfield, which was, and still is in possession of a formidable balance of guile and power. Yet January came around, and Mourinho went shopping for yet another midfielder, adding Nemanja Matić to a squad which already had six central midfielders, not even including the on loan Nathaniel Chalobah and Josh McEachran or the versatile David Luiz.
In an interview for this month’s edition Four Four Two, Matić has claimed that “It took Mourinho one minute to convince me to rejoin Chelsea”, but for many it will take much longer than that to justify signing the Serbian. This is not a comment on Matić’s ability, or even his reputation, after all during his time with Benfica, Matić won Primeira Liga Player of the Year for the 2012/13 season.
Rather the main issue is with the Serb’s fee. At around £21 million, Matić is hardly close to being Chelsea’s most expensive signings, but what differentiates Matić from the likes of Torres and Hazard, is that he has previously played for the club. Matić first joined Chelsea in 2009 for only £1.5 million, but despite a successful loan spell with Vitesse, made only two appearances for the Londoners before being used as a makeweight in the purchase of David Luiz.
During this second spell, a lack of appearances thus far has not been an issue, with Matić quickly establishing himself as a starter, supplanting better known names such as Lampard and Mikel with a series of assured performances. For many, their concerns will have been assuaged within the 90 minutes of his second starting debut. After a brief cameo in the win over Manchester United, Matić was thrown straight into the deep end, making his first Premier League start against title rivals Manchester City. The Serbian was immense alongside fellow former Benfica star David Luiz, snuffing out Yaya Toure in the City midfield, to help Chelsea on to a 1-0 win in what was a Mourinho tactical masterclass.
In his 13 appearances since his return to Chelsea, Matić has quickly shown just why Mourinho insisted that the club return to Benfica for the player. Offering more guile than Mikel and more steel than Lampard, Matić has worked well alongside either Ramires or Luiz in a pairing that allows the likes of Oscar and Hazard licence to roam. For all the positives though, what the purchase of Matić does represent is the epitome of Chelsea’s wasteful transfer policy. When, in the summer, Chelsea moved for Schurrle, this writer was critical. Kevin de Bruyne was already at the club, fresh from an excellent spell at Wolfsburg where he had a near identical season to the aforementioned Schurrle, with whom he shares a position. Willian, another player in a similar mould shortly followed. With the realities of Financial Fair Play set to kick in, it seemed bizarre for Chelsea to shell out such fees when a younger, equally talented option was already at the club.
With Diego Costa now linked to the club, it looks as if Lukaku may be the next talented Chelsea youngster out the door, along with maybe his Belgian team mate Courtois. What Matić represents then is a lack of willingness to commit to a long term strategy. Chelsea are happy to buy up young players, but when it comes to developing them and bringing them into the first team, the club runs out of patience.
What Chelsea have effectively done with Matić is pay Benfica the better part of £20 million to develop a player; a task that the club could, and should have done themselves. No matter how significant a role Matić plays in the future of Chelsea football club, he will always represent the financial frivolity of a club that would rather splurge every transfer window than work with, and develop what it has.