Nemanja Matić
Matić with Chelsea in 2014
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nemanja Matić | ||
| Date of birth | 1 August 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Šabac, SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
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Current team
|
Chelsea | ||
| Number | 21 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2000 | FK Obrenovac 1905 | ||
| 2000–2004 | Red Star Belgrade | ||
| 2004 | Partizan | ||
| 2004–2005 | Jedinstvo Ub | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2006 | Kolubara | 16 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | Košice | 70 | (4) |
| 2009–2011 | Chelsea | 2 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | → Vitesse Arnhem (loan) | 27 | (2) |
| 2011–2014 | Benfica | 56 | (6) |
| 2014– | Chelsea | 111 | (3) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2008–2010 | Serbia U21 | 11 | (2) |
| 2008– | Serbia | 30 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 February 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 November 2016 |
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Nemanja Matić (Serbian Cyrillic: Немања Матић; born 1 August 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays for English club Chelsea and the Serbia national team as a defensive midfielder. He is known for his consistent performances on the pitch and his combative style of play.
Matić began his career at Jedinstvo Ub and Slovak side MFK Košice before joining Chelsea for £1.5 million in 2009. Used sparingly during his first spell at Stamford Bridge, he spent the 2010–11 season on loan at Dutch club Vitesse, and in January 2011 he moved to Benfica in a swap deal involving David Luiz. Matić returned to Chelsea three years later, for £21 million. He has been a full international for Serbia since 2008, earning over 25 caps.
Born in Šabac, Matić began his senior career at Kolubara in 2005. He signed for Slovak club Košice in January 2007 and stayed at the club until the summer of 2009. While living in the country, he also received Slovak citizenship.
On 18 August 2009, Matić signed for Chelsea from MFK Košice for a fee of around £1.5 million on a four-year contract, having been on trial at Middlesbrough. He was given the number 24 shirt by Chelsea but was not able to make his debut immediately due to the injury he picked up at the 2009 under-21 championships. He was on the bench for Chelsea's League Cup match against Queens Park Rangers on 23 September 2009, but did not take any part in the 1–0 victory. Matić made his Premier League debut for Chelsea on 21 November, coming on as a substitute for Florent Malouda in the 69th minute in a 4–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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