Nemanja Matic:

“The goal I will never forget? There are quite a few. Palace in the last minute, the semi final of the FA Cup against Tottenham and in Benfica versus Porto, the biggest Portuguese derby, those three goals.”

“The toughest player I played against was probably Yaya Toure, when he played at Manchester City. In his prime, he was a very good player – probably one of the best players in the Premier League and one of the best midfielders in the world at that time.”

“So I really enjoyed playing against him. He always gave me a hard time and you always had to be at your best against him.”

“My nickname is The Wolf. They call me The Wolf but I don’t know why. You have to ask to them. I don’t know, they said I always find a way to win in the training sessions. They say, basically, that I am cheating. I don’t know. Wolves never cheat!”



“I spoke to him [Vidic] and he always gave me good advice about the club. He is a big legend as you know. I spoke to him months ago and he is always positive. He always supports us and is a gentleman. I am happy I am good friends with him.”

“My favourite player when I was a kid was Zinedine Zidane. When I was a kid, I used to play in a similar position to him so he was my idol. I think, in my opinion, he is one of the best players in football history.”

on #mufc’s best dribber: “The best dribbler with the ball is definitely not me. I don’t have to do that because my position doesn’t allow me to dribble a lot. I would say probably our strikers – Greenwood and Rashford. Yeah maybe these two players.”

“That’s the way I play [calm under pressure]. I think that’s my quality. I can stay calm to help the team sometimes when I see we are in a little bit of panic or sometimes the team needs stability. I think that’s part of my style of playing.”

“Best dressed in the team? Myself. By far. I think sometimes he [Pogba] posts his style on social media and I think people saw why. I don’t want to get involved with it again. If he wants, he can post, okay, but I don’t like his style!”

“The funniest character in the dressing room is Paul [Pogba]. Paul always gets angry and it is funny to watch him. Erm, someone else… no, I will say Paul.”

“Every time I step on to the pitch, I always remember where I started from. When I see Old Trafford it gives me a bit more motivation to play because I think the people come from, let’s say, poor villages like me, that gives us more power to show our best.”

on becoming a coach: “I started my coaching badges but I don’t think yet about this. I focus on my job now. I think I have still got four or five more seasons to play. After that, we will see but, at the moment, I am only focusing on playing football.”

“I played behind the striker [as a child] so I was a no.10. I was small, smaller than now. Much smaller! I had great technique and I used to score many goals and get lots of assists.”

The funniest character in the dressing room is Paul [Pogba]. Paul always gets angry and it is funny to watch him. Erm, someone else… no, I will say Paul.”

“Every time I step on to the pitch, I always remember where I started from. When I see Old Trafford it gives me a bit more motivation to play because I think the people come from, let’s say, poor villages like me, that gives us more power to show our best.”

on becoming a coach: “I started my coaching badges but I don’t think yet about this. I focus on my job now. I think I have still got four or five more seasons to play. After that, we will see but, at the moment, I am only focusing on playing football.”

“I played behind the striker [as a child] so I was a no.10. I was small, smaller than now. Much smaller! I had great technique and I used to score many goals and get lots of assists.”

By Rodgers Ouma