3. Nemanja Matic - Shone For Benfica, Bought Back By Blues
Nemanja Matic performed so well after he left Chelsea in 2011 that the club bought him back three years later. Matic joined the Blues in 2009 but left after just two seasons - one of which was spent on loan at Vitesse - after struggling to break into first team contention. He joined Benfica as part of the deal that brought David Luiz to Stamford Bridge and that, it seemed, was the last we'd see of the defensive midfielder at SW6. We couldn't have been more wrong. Matic excelled in Portugal, being named Primeira Liga Player of the Year in 201213 and going on to help his club win the Portuguese league title in 2013-14 as well as the Taça de Portugal in their double-winning season. Matic played against Chelsea in the Europa League final in 2013 but was left heartbroken when a Branislav Ivanovic header secured a 2-1 win for the Blues. At one point however it looked as though Benfica would win the competition and thus secure a treble, and though it wasn't to be, the Serbian's impressive performances in that game must have convinced the Blues they'd made a mistake in letting him go because they paid £21 million to bring him back to England earlier this year.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
