18 August, 2017
You just have to look at how Chelsea's centre backs got on last weekend to truly understand the stabilising influence brought by Matic: Gary Cahill only lasted 17 minutes and David Luiz ended up making Sam Vokes look like Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The Serb won the Premier League title twice during his time at Stamford Bridge, but after following Jose Mourinho to United he believes his career has taken another step forward.
He was speaking exclusively to Metro, and said: "Obviously I've watched him from afar and been up against him for Chelsea".
'I think it [the squad] has got stronger each year and I think you can see in pre-season that more often than not the team changed at half-time and you can see there were that many experienced players on the pitch as well.
Chelsea manager Conte has revealed that he didn't want the defensive midfielder to leave the west London club this summer.
'I think his age helps and obviously he comes from a club in the Premier League so he's not needed very long to settle in at all, ' he explained.
When asked if United are the biggest club he's played for, Matic, 29, replied: "Definitely, everyone knows what Manchester United is about".
Matic was named man of the match following an impressive performance in Manchester United's 4-0 victory over West Ham in their Premier League opener at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
It is in contrast to Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham, who have seen controversies surrounding the future of Diego Costa, Alexis Sanchez, Philippe Coutinho and Danny Rose blight their summers. I think I can still improve and I will do it of course.
The Red Devils are sitting at the top of the Premier League table.
Smalling, though, is hopeful of getting enough games to secure a place in England's squad for next summer's World Cup in Russian Federation. "If I have the chance to go forward and score some goals this season, I will do it".
