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Former Chelsea boss Ruud Gullit believes Nemanja Matic would never have fit into Chelsea's style of play under Maurizio Sarri and the club were right to get rid of him in 2017.

The 30-year-old had two stints at Stamford Bridge, winning the Premier League twice, and there were some eyebrows raised when the club let him go to league rivals Manchester United for £40m.

The Blues had just come off winning the title under Antonio Conte and the Serbian had been a key member of that squad and his departure was one reason for why they struggled in the following campaign.

However, with the introduction of Sarri this summer the Blues have gone for a completely different style of play and a more technical style of player to break open defences and get the play moving forward.

It is a style of play that both Manchester City and Liverpool have also adopted under Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp respectively, and all three clubs are still unbeaten in the Premier League this season.

(Image: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

With Jorginho, N'Golo Kante and Ross Barkley or Mateo Kovacic playing in midfield there is an obvious shift towards more technical play, something Gullit feels Matic would not have been able to do.

"Nemanja Matic needs one touch, two touch, three touch. Sometimes he loses the ball. Sometimes he is too slow," Gullit said on MOTD2.

"Chelsea has also smaller players - Hazard, Pedro, Willian, Kante - who can all decide very quickly how to turn and that is the modern player nowadays but in the back you still have some big players in case crosses come in because you need a good header."

So, earlier in the show Gullit was talking abou how City, Chelsea, Liverpool are all playing fast, technical football

One suggestion on the show from a viewer as well suggested that signing Matic showed that Jose Mourinho was falling behind what the modern game is demanding of clubs right now, with the Red Devils having had a difficult start to the campaign.

Gullit added that Paul Pogba had been playing his best football for France, rather than United, where he is surrounded by smaller, more technically gifted players such as Antoine Griezmann.

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