Nemanja Matić

Nemanja Matić arrived at Sassuolo as a free agent, on a one-year deal with an option for a further season, closing out a career that has run through some of Europe's biggest clubs. He signed first for Chelsea in 2009, but it was a loan spell at Vitesse and then four seasons at Benfica that shaped him into the player who returned to Stamford Bridge in 2014. At Benfica he was named the Primeira Liga's Player of the Year in 2012/13 and reached a Europa League final with the club, a defeat to the very team he would rejoin the following year.

His second spell at Chelsea brought two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup. Manchester United signed him in 2017, where he made 128 appearances and reached another Europa League final, lost to Ajax. A further final followed with Roma in 2022/23, against Eintracht Frankfurt — three Europa League finals in all, none of them won.

Internationally, Matić won 48 caps for Serbia between 2008 and 2020, scoring twice, including a goal remembered for an overhead kick against Portugal. He played at the 2018 World Cup and featured in Euro 2016 qualification and the 2018/19 Nations League.

After Manchester United, his career moved through Rome, Rennes and Lyon before the switch to Sassuolo. Across more than a decade and a half in England, Portugal, Italy and France, he has built a reputation as a midfielder clubs turn to for control and experience rather than for goals.