Neville questions Matic sale

The Serbian teamed up with former boss Jose Mourinho once again for a fee of £40m last month and Neville feels that the champions’ decision to sell to a rival is a strange one indeed, particularly given Antonio Conte’s continued praise for the 28-year-old.

Speaking on the Sky Sports’ Premier League Launch show, the former Valencia boss said: “When a player leaves a club, you do not normally see a manager speak so glowingly about them.

“Usually they would say it is time for them to leave, it was the right move for both parties.tic

“But he (Antonio Conte) spoke about him in such a way about his incredible importance to the job they did last year, Matic and N’Golo Kante in front of that back three.

“And I have no doubt that he has not sanctioned that move, he is not happy with it and ultimately he is uncomfortable with it.

“I have to say that it is a strange move, it really is, to sell to one of your main rivals. Sometimes transfers can get forced through, but it did not seem to me that Matic was forcing it through. Maybe he was behind the scenes, but it did not seem he was publicly.

“There is very rarely such big transfers between champions to clubs that are challenging them and it is a strange move.

“And I do not think he likes it and I do not think he agrees with it because he said he has to strengthen now and fill that gap.”

The former England man certainly has an interesting theory, but time will tell as to whether Chelsea made the right decision to sell.