Lyon star and former Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has revealed that winning trophies was not the main priority during his time at Old Trafford.
Matic is set to come up against his former side in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie on Thursday evening at Parc Olympique Lyonnais.
The 36-year-old made 189 appearances for United between 2017 and 2022 after joining them from Chelsea in a deal worth around £40million. He didn’t win a trophy while at United but he lifted two Premier League titles and an FA Cup during his time at Stamford Bridge.
The Serbian spoke to The Athletic and compared his experiences at the two clubs. He shockingly revealed that unlike Chelsea where winning silverware was the main goal, United were more concerned with commercial affairs.
Matic told the newspaper, “We did our best every single year, the players, the coaches. In my first year, we finished second. We were leading in January but Man City won. We finished second, sixth, third, second and sixth. We played in the Europa League, Super Cup and FA Cup finals. We played Champions League in four of my five seasons. But we didn’t win.”
“If I compare how we did with United now, then we did great, but of course United cannot be happy finishing second. United need to be winning leagues. We gave it our best and sometimes we’d get criticised, but I didn’t see any major problems in the club.”
“The organisation was very good, the conditions perfect. The difference I felt after Chelsea was that, at Chelsea, everything was about the result and winning trophies. That was the spirit in the whole club, even from the man who cuts the grass.”
“Roman Abramovich would only ask us about results. At United, it was more commercial-minded. I started to think that after a couple of months in the club. I understand that our salary needs to be paid, but I felt that the results were not the focus like it was at Chelsea.”
He continued, “I maybe did two commercial jobs at Chelsea, at United it was far more. I arrived at United with the anger to win trophies like I had at Chelsea, but step by step I started to feel that trophies were not the focus. Maybe I’m not right, but that was my feeling inside.”
Looking ahead to Thursday’s contest, Matic said, “The atmosphere will be amazing, the stadium is very good. People can expect a very good game. We have a lot of good, experienced, players here, a big squad. Of course, Rayan Cherki is someone who a lot of clubs are watching, an amazing talent who can decide a game in one movement.”
“Alex Lacazette is here, who many people know. It will be hard for United and the Europa League is very important for both clubs.”
“Here, we’re trying to reach our space in the top three in Ligue 1 so that we can play Champions League next season — that’s where Lyon became famous around the world and we want to get back there — but we could do that by winning the Europa League.”
“It’s a big game. The fans will be loud here. The fans are different to England. To get the same support that you get in the Premier League in France, you need good results. In England, I’ve seen a team get relegated in the Premier League and still get clapped by the fans because they felt the players gave everything.”
Lyon vs. United kicks off at 20:00 BST.
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
