Why it's game over for Nemanja Matic at Chelsea

Nobody was more pleased to see the lantern-jawed lump of a man stroll back onto Cobham than Branislav Ivanovic.

The Serbian brothers-in-arms were always close, and now they were reunited after Matic's time away with Benfica. “He's my little brother,” said the full-back of his impossibly huge younger countryman.

Matic was always rated at Chelsea, and they didn't part company with him easily back in 2011. As a 21-year-old with Chelsea, he was headed for great things, but there was a thought he might need some time at finishing school – hence his place in the part-cash, part-swap deal which brought David Luiz to Chelsea for the first time.

His return, under Jose Mourinho, was glorious.

In fact, in a way he became almost the perfect Mourinho player during his second spell at Chelsea. Physically imposing, seldom tiring, able to work within the rigidity of a system built to grind out titles, and give not an inch to the opposition – not quite Michael Essien, but not a bad tribute act. But his usefulness to the side seemed to decline under Antonio Conte.

The plan to make him the ideal foil for the newly recruited N'Golo Kante worked initially, up to a point. Kante is the master of the transitional game: wrestling back possession from the other side, and then turning that into his own side's advantage.

As the last season went on, Conte stressed more and more how he wanted to see Kante's passing game improve – and so it happened. But all of that left Matic looking rather a spare part in midfield. His rigid economy had less value in Conte's system, which requires a greater fluidity.

Hence the move for Tiemoue Bakayoko – a player more complete in both of those recovery and redistribution roles than Matic. It isn't about whether or not he is a better player (and, by the way, there's little doubt that he is), but more that Bakayoko is better suited to Chelsea's needs right now.

Matic, meanwhile, remains an archetype of the Mourinho model. And that is what may well drive his eventual departure from the club this summer.

While there is clearly still room for Matic at Chelsea, at least as an understudy, it's his value elsewhere that is most likely to end his second spell with the club. If reports of a £40m bid from Manchester United for the midfielder are to be believed, then it will be near impossible for Chelsea to resist that sort of offer for a player likely to be consigned to the fringes of the club.

Conte's season-two plan for Chelsea is clearly to make improvements on what was a winning model last season, while expanding the squad to be Europe-ready. By swapping Matic for Bakayoko, he can do both of those things: improving the first-choice option in a key position, while maximising the available revenue for other purchases.

And Matic is unlikely to be the only face in this title-winning side to fall victim to that strategy this summer.