Antonio Conte willing to sell Nemanja Matic for £40m who has been training alone and wants to join Manchester United
Chelsea boss to allow Serbian to leave but is determined to prevent him moving to Old Trafford
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NEMANJA MATIC is desperate to force a move away from Chelsea and is reportedly desperate to join Manchester United.
The Serbian midfielder has been training on his own since the Blues’ return for pre-season this week.
United thought they had secured a deal for the star last month to see him reunite with Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.
However, relations between the two clubs have soured since the Red Devils gazumped Conte to sign Romelu Lukaku from Everton last week.
Matic left the Chelsea training ground early on Wednesday report and it remains to be seen whether he will fly out with the rest of the squad for their tour of the Far East on Monday.
He has been struggling with knock, which could be holding up his departure, but his teammates are convinced that he is on the brink of leaving.
Inter Milan have this week shown an interest in the midfield destroyer while United and the ace are both keen on each other.
But Conte would prefer to sell Matic to Italy instead of strengthening one of his main rivals.
MORE CHELSEA TRANSFER NEWS
Chelsea have been attempting to negotiate a new contract with the player for 18 months but now appear set on cashing in for £40million.
He will be allowed to leave despite the fact that his replacement Tiemoue Bakayoko may not be ready to make his Premier League debut until September.
The Frenchman is expected to finally complete his switch to Stamford Bridge in the coming days.
The 22-year-old’s £35m move has been delayed after it emerged he required knee surgery at the end of last season.
There have also been disagreements between the clubs over the payment structure of the fee.
Tiemoue Bakayoko factfile
- Bakayoko, 22, was born in Paris on August 17 1994.
- He started played for Parisien side Paris 15eme O when he was just five
- Four years later, aged nine, he moved to another local team CA Paris Charenton and then on the Montrogue FC 92.
- He moved to Rennes in 2008 to join their academy when he was just 13.
- Bakayoko made 24 appearances for Rennes in midfield before being sold to Monaco in 2014 for £7million.
- He has played 92 games for Monaco in three seasons giving him 120 first-team appearances in total.
- Bakayoko earned his first France cap in March after coming on for Adrien Rabiot during a 2-0 defeat to Spain.
- He was the man who knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League with his header making it 6-6 on aggregate.
- He has been described as a less flashy, more defensive version of Paul Pogba.
He has been working alone on his fitness while he awaits his move to be finalised, but he will still be lagging behind the rest of his new colleagues.
