While many still have doubts about the usefulness of the January window, Manchester United know from experience just how transformative one winter signing can be.
Just one week after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s side trudged off the Old Trafford pitch following a shock 2-0 home defeat to Burnley – one which left the Red Devils fifth and 30 points off top spot – Bruno Fernandes rode in on a white stallion and immediately turned around a flagging campaign.
Four years on, Fernandes’ former Manchester United team-mate Nemanja Matic, even at the age of 35, has done something pretty similar at Lyon.
Eyebrows were raised when the veteran enforcer swapped Rennes for Olympique Lyonnais a couple of months ago. Matic’s short-lived spell in Brittany was nothing short of a disaster, after all, albeit more the result of a very unseemly off-field dispute rather than because of his performances on the pitch.
At Lyon, however, Matic has let his football do the talking. And, despite his looming 36th birthday, one of Solskjaer’s old lieutenants once again finds himself patrolling the battlefield, guiding those young soldiers alongside him through the mud.
Former Manchester United ace emulates Fernandes impact
Lyon were on their third manager of the season by the time Matic made his debut in early February, and had lost each of their previous two games to slip ever further into the relegation mire.
The Serbia international was therefore thrown straight into Pierre Sage’s starting XI when Marseille arrived at the Groupama Stadium just days after the close of the January window, and sparked a huge improvement right from the first whistle.
An improvement which continues to this day. In his 13 Ligue 1 appearances, Matic has been on the winning side ten times. Add in the Coupe de France – Sage’s side will face old rivals PSG in the final – and Matic’s record is 13 wins in 16 across all competitions.
“I’m a team player. I do my best for (the team). If people recognise my work, it’s gratifying for me,” Matic said after the thrilling 4-3 win at Lille, a result which has a Lyon side fearing relegation a few months ago now full steam ahead for Europe.
“Usually, people notice more those who score goals,” Matic adds. “But, sometimes, some see the work that we accomplish in the shadows.”
Nemanja Matic is a huge presence at Lyon
Make no mistake, Matic’s influence is not going unnoticed. A rare experienced head alongside talismanic top scorer Alexandre Lacazette, a man who once cost Man United a cool £40 million may not be the quickest of foot. But it’s his speed of thought, his superb game-management and his vast know-how that has helped transform a largely youthful Lyon side who were crying out for a leader to look up to.
“(Matic) is technically strong and therefore capable of playing with one touch, because he always anticipates. He is intelligent,” raves Juninho, the legendary Lyon playmaker (L’Equipe).
“OL were so weak in this position, in terms of physical maturity and technical quality, that Matic immediately brought a lot of balance. With time, the ideal would be for him to be used for certain key moments of the season.
“But, for the moment, it is very difficult to remove him.”
Matic may not be a long-term Lyon solution, like Fernandes was at Man United. But, as far as immediate impacts go, you’d struggle to find a single January signing who has helped turn around a struggling side quite so quickly and quite so dramatically.