Reports reaching the Football Transfer Tavern in the last few days suggest Chelsea are close to securing a deal for Benfica midfielder Nemanja Matic.

The Serbian midfielder is set to return to Stamford Bridge in a £25 million deal, just three years after leaving the club for £3 million as part of the deal that bought David Luiz to West London.

Whilst forking out an extra £22 million on a player previously on the club’s books seems bad business, Chelsea have gone some way to recovering a large portion of that, by agreeing an £17 million deal to sell Kevin De Bruyne to Wolfsburg – a player they signed from Genk for £6 million.

With Matic set to be the first major signing of any club during the January transfer window, it begs the question as to whether Jose Mourinho will look for further new recruits.

The Blues seem to be clicking into gear at exactly the right time, winning four Premier League games on the bounce and conceding just one goal in the process.

The right signings in January will put Mourinho’s men in pole position to challenge the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City for the Premier League title.

Here we have identified five players we feel could realistically follow Nemanja Matic to Stamford Bridge this month.

Click on Stamford Bridge to reveal the 5 players to realistically follow Nemanja Matic to Chelsea this January.