Manchester United have officially confirmed that Nemanja Matic has joined from Chelsea, and the midfielder has elected to wear the #31 for the upcoming season.
In opting for the number formerly worn by Bastian Schweinsteiger, he rejected the opportunity to wear the currently vacant #15 shirt once worn by another Serbian Nemanja in former club captain Vidic.
It's no secret that Vidic remains a hero to Man Utd fans to this day, and this is something that Matic is well aware of as in his first interview as a United player for MUTV, he admitted that he wants to try his best to emulate his former international teammate's success at Old Trafford, mainly because he doesn't want to have to face his reaction if he doesn't play well.
Vidic, as you know, was a great player. He was one of the players who I look looked to be similar to because he had a great career. When I came to the Serbian national team for the first time he was one of the captains, he was the leader of our national team.
So it's great to be in the same club like him, and I will try to do my best to repeat what he did.
I know it's going to be very hard, but I will try to do my best because I don't want for one day him to tell me 'What are you doing there?'
So I will try to do my best for him to be happy.
Wise man, you don't want an angry Nemanja Vidic on your case.
The fans now find themselves with a dilemma, as Nemanja Vidic's famous chant that the supporters would sing (He comes from Serbia, he'll fuckin' murder ya) applies directly to Matic as well, even if he does look far less murderous than Vidic. Do they adopt it to praise the new signing when he does well? Or does it belong exclusively to Vidic?
Matic himself acknowledged the fact that they can sing the same one for him, but it remains to be seen whether or not we'll hear it ringing around Old Trafford when the season starts.
Comparisons to Nemanja Vidic are not something that will help any new recruit at Old Trafford such is his legacy there, even if they don't play the same position, but it's good to see that Matic is addressing them with a bit of humour ahead of the start of the Premier League campaign.
He claims the real reason he was keen to push through a move to Man Utd was to work with Jose Mourinho again, despite criticisms the Portuguese made while they were both at Chelsea, so clearly there was never any bad blood, and the Serbian can expect to play a big role at his new club this season.
