Chelsea Will Sell Mata to Fund Move for Benfica Midfielder - Report

Chelsea are keen to sell Juan Mata to Bayern Munich to recoup a lucrative fee they will reinvest in the signing of former player Nemanja Matic, reports suggest.

The Blues signed Matic in 2009 but after two seasons at Stamford Bridge he was transferred to Benfica as part of the £25 million deal that see David Luiz move from the Portuguese giants to London.

According to Portuguese newspaper Record Chelsea are keen on resigning the 25-year-old during this transfer window but they need to sell Mata first to balance their finances.

The Spaniard's sale could see Chelsea recouping some of the £23m they paid to Valencia in for his services in the summer of 2011 while at the same time provide them with the funds for Benfica's sought after midfielder.

Matic is understood to have a buy-out clause in his contract that is around £37m in but reports claim that Chelsea may agree a cut-price deal of £21m to bring the midfielder back to Stamford Bridge.

Manager Jose Mourinho wants to strengthen his midfield and the Serbian leads a short-list that also includes Inter Milan's Fredy Guarin.

German newspaper Bild report that Pep Guardiola has his eye on Mata as his main January target and Bayern are keen to move forward with a £20m bid to bring him to the Bundesliga during January.

Reports believe that the German side lead the race to sign the Spaniard who has also been linked with a move to Paris Saint Germain and Barcelona.

Manager Jose Mourinho claimed in his latest press conference that Chelsea have not received any offers for Mata but he recently admitted that the door was open for him should he wish to leave Stamford Bridge.

Mata won the Player of the Year award in his two first seasons at Chelsea but this campaign has struggled to convince Mourinho that he deserves a place in the starting line-up and he has been an unused substitute in the club's last two games.