Manchester United to sign Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic for £40 millionJuly 31, 2017 - 10:49 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Manchester United are on the verge of signing Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic from Chelsea in a £40 million ($55 million) deal, according to reports on Sunday, July 30. United manager Jose Mourinho has been keen to take Matic from his former club for over a year and it appears the deal is finally set to go through, AFP reports. Having failed to land Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Eric Dier, Mourinho turned to Matic as the man to fill the holding role in United’s midfield and the 28-year-old is said to have undergone a medical on Sunday. United have yet to officially confirm the signing, but reports that a deal was imminent came after a picture of Matic in the club’s training kit was leaked on social media. “I’m waiting for news. I know that he wants that very, very much and when a player wants very, very much the chance is bigger, the chance is bigger,” Mourinho told the Manchester Evening News after United defeated Valerenga of Norway 3-0 in a pre-season friendly in Oslo. “So I think we have a chance but in football until it’s official, I saw so many things happen that I refuse to say more than I am telling you now.” Talks between United and Chelsea over a fee have taken some time, with the clubs initially substantially apart over the price. Mourinho also signed Matic from Benfica when he was in charge at Chelsea in January 2014. Matic would be Mourinho’s third close-season purchase after the £31 million capture of Benfica defender Victor Lindelof and the British record £75 million signing of Everton striker Romelu Lukaku. The United manager played down the significance of the photos showing Matic dressed in a club training kit. “I don’t know because I was not there. Number 31 is a free number. It was (Bastian) Schweinsteiger’s. It’s a free jersey, we have a few free and 31 is one of them.” Photo. Reuters Top stories Armenian gymnast, Olympic bronze medalist Artur Davtyan has reached the finals of the World Cup. Gor Manvelyan has denied reports alleging that he has expressed a desire to one day play for the French national team. Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not considering FC Spartak Moscow as his next haven, according to fresh reports. 10 Armenian lifters will compete in the 2021 World Championships scheduled to be held from 7 to 17 December in Tashkent. Partner news | Erdogan wants “realistic road map” for relations with Armenia Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a “new realistic road map” for relations with Armenia. Armenia-Azerbaijan: Experts launch work on determining coordinates Expert groups from the countries started the process of determining the coordinates based on geodetic measurements. Yerevan says did not expect CSTO in peacekeeping role Pashinyan has declared that the CSTO would be expected to come to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as an ally of Armenia Armenia not going to war over Karabakh, says Pashinyan Armenia is not preparing to fight a war for Nagorno Karabakh, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview. |