Photo: Chelsea FC

Chelsea wing-back Marcos Alonso is having a successful season at Chelsea, but former Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins, has looked back at how Alonso had to leave the Premier League and up his game in Italy.

Matic left Chelsea to join Benfica in 2011 in a deal which first brought David Luiz to London, and Wilkins believes that deal made Matic a better player.

“A bit like Matic, he wasn’t good enough, went away, worked very hard at his game but got game time when he went away,” former Chelsea midfielder and assistant manager Wilkins said on talkSPORT.

“He came back and now he’s performing okay.

“Matic was exactly the same, Matic was in the reserves at Chelsea.

“He was half the size, he was a skinny languid sort of guy.

“He went away to Benfica, came back double the size and that was because he was playing week in, week out.

“He comes back and he’s performed miracles.”