I wasn't happy and planned my escape from Gareth Southgate's Middlesbrough. I ignored my club's calls because I was angry they'd sent me there. I went to Chelsea instead' Nemanja Matic on his trial with Boro

"I signed for Chelsea after the Under-21 Euros, when I'd broken my foot against Italy in the only game that I played, Matic recalls to FourFourTwo. I was lucky that Carlo Ancelotti had seen the game and signed me for Chelsea. Six months before that, my club had sent me to Middlesbrough. It was interesting they told me I needed to go on trial for 10 days, but I didn't want to go out on trial anywhere, I was a top-division player in Slovakia."

"They were pushing me. I said no. But they told me to just go there for three days, see the club, Middlesbrough would explain everything, and if I was happy, they'd give me a contract and I'd play in the Premier League. Gareth Southgate was the manager. I went but I didn't speak English, apart from the word taxi'. I went to the training ground, got a full kit and was put in a dressing room with one other guy."

Nemanja Matic, 37, plays for Serie A side Sassuolo as the tenth team of his career. His career has spanned seven countries and included 48 appearances for the Serbian national team. His first major move was a £1.5m transfer from Slovak side Kosice to Chelsea in August 2009. Carlo Ancelotti signed him after watching his Under-21 Euros appearance despite Matic breaking his foot in that game. Six months earlier his club sent him to Middlesbrough for a trial he resisted, trained two days, felt uncomfortable, took a taxi to Manchester Airport, ignored his club's calls, and subsequently joined Chelsea.

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