Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic is close to completing a move back to Chelsea after leaving the Premier League club to join Benfica in 2011- in a deal that saw Brazilian defender David Luiz move the other way round.
The 25-year-old, who was valued at £5m when he quit the ‘Blues’, arrived in London from Lisbon on Tuesday night and will undergo a medical with Chelsea ahead of a proposed £21m return to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea will offset the cost of signing Matic with the £16m they will earn from selling Kevin de Bruyne to Wolfsburg.
Prior to Matic’s move to Benfica, he had earlier featured for Vitese Arnhem on a season-long loan in 2010/11.
He first joined Chelsea from Slovakian club MFK Kosice on a four-year deal for £1.5m in 2009.
He made two league appearances for the side- including being named on the bench in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup final in 2010.
