Chelsea round-up: Matic exit confirmed; Juventus rule out defender sale; Ake hits back at Conte

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Manchester United have confirmed the signing of midfielder Nemanja Matic on their official club website. The Sun say that the Blues will net £40 million from the sale of the Serbian, who had entered into the last 12 months of his contract. That represents great value for the Blues given that he will turn 29 on Tuesday.

It represents a fee almost double the £21 million that Chelsea initially paid to re-sign Matic from Benfica in 2014, having been sold by Chelsea to the Portuguese club as part of a deal for defender David Luiz in 2011. With Tiemoue Bakayoko now signed up, he would merely have warmed the bench so that money could be wisely re-invested elsewhere.

However, in a blow for the club’s transfer hopes, Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has ruled out a potential sale of left-back Alex Sandro. Chelsea have been strongly linked with a move for the Brazilian but the Metro quote Allegri as insisting that he is going nowhere, saying:

“Alex Sandro is a Juve player. He is sensational and will not leave.”

Having already missed out on other targets like Romelu Lukaku and Danilo, it is turning out to be a frustrating summer for Chelsea. Sandro may have helped those concerns to disappear, but it now seems likely that Chelsea will have to continue looking for a full-back to add to their squad.

One option may previously have been central defender Nathan Ake, who can also deputise on the left. That won’t happen now as the Dutchman left Stamford Bridge earlier this summer to join Bournemouth in a move which Antonio Conte described as “impatient”. Ake has controversially hit back at the Italian, with Goal reporting him as saying:

“It is a short career, but I’m 22 now and I feel like I have had a good experience playing games and you just want to continue doing that. I understand what he said but I think we also know that Chelsea is a big club and for myself it was going to be difficult to come in and play straight away. The decision to come here was to be able to play more games which is important for me and that is why I came here.”

Having made just one Premier League start for the Blues having been recalled from his loan spell with the Cherries in January, it is easy to see why Ake may have grown disillusioned with life in west London.