Nemanja Matic joined Manchester United last summer (Picture: Getty)

Phil Neville believes Chelsea made the worst decision in Premier League history this summer by allowing Nemanja Matic to join Manchester United.

The Serbian international joined the Red Devils for a fee of around £35million after lengthy negotiations between the two sides.

Matic, 29, won two league titles at Stamford Bridge and Antonio Conte replaced him with Monaco midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko.

However, the Frenchman is yet to fill Matic’s boots and the Serbian has proved an instant success for the Red Devils.

And Neville believes it’s proved to be an unforgivable decision.

‘I hate going back over old ground but when you’ve got Matic sat in front of you with Kante – who has been the player of the season for the last two years – you have the best two central midfielders in the league by a country mile,’ Neville told 5Live.

‘Why they sold him…whoever made that decision needs sacking because it’s the poorest decision I’ve seen in the Premier League.

‘To get rid of somebody who is not over the hill, who still has lots of football, has lots of quality.

‘If you ask those Chelsea players now who they want in their team who is missing…forget anybody else in world football give me Matic back. Bakayoko is not that player that can do the same job as Matic.

‘Whether they wanted him to go or not, I wouldn’t have let him leave the building. I would have chained him to the training ground and said “You’re not going anywhere”.