Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted that he would not have allowed Nemanja Matic to leave the club had he been in charge at the time.
The Blues boss re-signed the Serbian from Benfica last January in a deal worth £21m, but Mourinho said that his predecessor Carlo Ancelotti should not have let him go.
"If I was here, a left-footed player - 1.95m [tall], position midfield, would never, never, never leave... never," the Daily Star quotes Mourinho as saying.
He added: "I think Chelsea were brave by bringing Matic back. If in this world you want to do the best for your club you don't think about your reputation, you don't protect yourself from possible critics.
"You simply do what you think is the best. And in that time we want a midfield player."
Matic is expected to return to the Chelsea side to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League after serving a ban for his altercation with Burnley's Ashley Barnes.
Mark Langshaw
