10 Players You Didn't Know Nearly Signed For Middlesbrough

4. Nemanja Matic

It may have taken Chelsea two spells, an absence of three years and a further £21 million to realise that Nemanja Matic was a handy player, having originally flogged him to Benfica in part-exchange for David Luiz in January 2011. However, having formed a steely partnership with Cesc Fabregas in the centre of the park, he is on his way to earning cult status at a club he thought had cut all ties with him once upon a time. It could have been so different for the 25 year old Serbian, had he put pen to paper on a contract at the Riverside Stadium, having been taken on trial whilst still at Slovakian club MFK Kosice.

''The club was okay, they were in the Premier League at the time with some good players like Stewart Downing and Robert Huth. I don۪t know why it didn۪t happen - I went to join up with the national team and the clubs were supposed to talk, but I never heard any more about it. Who knows what would have happened if I had signed for Middlesbrough - would I be here today? All I know is that I am a Chelsea player now and very happy to be here.۪۪ - Nemanja Matic, March 2014.