Nemanja Matić has hailed the influence of José Mourinho in getting him to push through a move to Manchester United.

The Serb completed his £40million transfer to the Premier League club from current English champions Chelsea on Monday afternoon, having undergone a medical at the weekend.

Matić, 28, has signed a three-year contract, with an optional one-year extension, at Man United. He told the club's official television channel, MUTV, of how manager Mourinho was a strong pulling factor in his desire to move from the Champions to Old Trafford.

My decision to join Man Utd was "very easy", claims Matić

Questioned why he wished to join United, he told MUTV that "Manchester [United] is one of the biggest clubs in the world." But stressed that his "wish was to train with José, and of course, when you have a coach like him and a club like Manchester [United], you don't need to think a lot, so my decision was very easy."

This is the second time Mourinho has signed Matić, the first being during the Portuguese's second-spell in charge of Chelsea. In January 2014, he brought Matić back to the Blues from Benfica .

Matić delighted to work with Mourinho again

Matić spoke of his delight at being reunited with his former boss. "I am very happy because we will again together," the 28-year-old said. "He is a great coach, and, when I worked with him before, he always took the best from me. I improve if I work with him, so I am very happy to be with him again, especially in this great club."

"When the coach wants you to come to the club, it gives you more motivation, more possibility and I will try to, not try, I will, for sure, give my best to show that I deserve to be in this club and part of this group," Matić asserted.

Though he's not yet fit for a full 90 minutes having been left out of Chelsea's pre-season squad due to this impending move, Matić assured fans he will soon be ready for action. United kick off their season against Real Madrid in a just over a week's time in the UEFA Super Cup, before hosting West Ham United in their opening Premier League game of the season. Matić will make his competitive debut in one of those two fixtures, though the Reds travel to Dublin soon to take on Sampdoria in a friendly at the AVIVA Stadium.

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About the author
Harry Robinson
Deputy Editor-in-Chief at VAVEL UK, and Manchester United Editor.