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Chelsea sold Nemanja Matic to Manchester United earlier this month and the Blues seem to be feeling the repercussions with Chelsea thin in central midfield.

Matic has taken to life very well at Old Trafford and football pundit Tony Gale has revealed his shock at the deal while admitting that the club must sign his replacement before the close of the window.

“I expect Chelsea to complete signings in the next couple of weeks,” Gale said on Sky Sports.

“Why did they sell Matic? Selling people like Matic you need two players to accommodate the position he’s come out of.

“He’s got everything and he did go out of favour a bit for about six months and I could never understand that.

“But when he came back obviously he sealed a place down with [N’Golo] Kante and the two of them are ideal for each other.

“When you take that away you think ‘why have you done that?’

“For me, as a centre back the two of them in front of you are a dream.

“John Terry could have played until he was 94 with those two in front of him but it was a real mystery.

“The only thing I can say is they must be doing business.”