Serbian was valued at under £5m in move to Benfica as part of David Luiz purchase three years ago but outlay is offset by £18m sale of Kevin De Bruyne to Wolfsburg
Nemanja Matic is due to undergo a medical on Tuesday ahead of completing a return to Chelsea.
The midfielder was valued at less than £5 million when he left Stamford Bridge as part of the deal that took David Luiz to Chelsea from Benfica.
Just three years later, Chelsea are poised to re-sign Matic for around £22 million and, barring any hitches, he could replace Luiz in the team to face Manchester United on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho was keen to land a new central midfield enforcer and the Chelsea manager has no qualms about bringing back Matic, particularly as he did not initially sign or sell the Serbian.
Chelsea will point to the fact that Matic has developed into a much better player at Benfica than the one who was struggling to get games at Stamford Bridge.
They will also argue that the only way to get Luiz was to allow Matic to go to Portugal as part of the £23.5 million deal. Luiz played in central midfield in the victory against Hull City, where Matic will be expected to establish himself alongside Ramires.
Chelsea’s financial hit on Matic has been offset in some part by the £18 million they have collected from German club Wolfsburg for Kevin De Bruyne, who joined the Blues for £7 million from Genk two years ago and made nine senior appearances.
Sources in Portugal claim that Matic will sign an initial contract with Chelsea to 2017, but that may contain the option of a further year. The 25-year-old had a £37 million buy-out clause in his Benfica contract, but financial pressures meant that the Portuguese club could not hold out for that fee.
via@Telegraph