Wilkins: Chelsea's transfer decision could hand Man Utd the title

Former Chelsea player Ray Wilkins believes that Chelsea may have handed their Premier League title to Manchester United following their decision to sell Nemanja Matic to the Old Trafford outfit.

The Serbia international reunited with manager Jose Mourinho in a £40m deal last month and he has since not put a foot down in the United shirt.

Matic had a stormer of a league debut for United in the 4-0 thumping of West Ham United last weekend, and Wilkins praised the 29-year-old for his efforts.

“The level of performance is surprising. When you stick one guy in the middle of the midfield and allows so many people just to go and do their own job. What an amazing impact that was yesterday from Nemanja Matic" he told TalkSPORT.

Blues boss Antonio Conte had earlier cited that it was not his decision to sell Nemanja Matic to a direct league rival, and Wilkins feels that the Serbian's absence could cost them the English crown.

“After winning the league with such a devastating midfield duo of [N'Golo] Kante and Nemanja Matic, who were absolutely superb last year. Why are we selling one of them? Yesterday you saw what Matic can do. It could cost Chelsea the league and give the Reds the league,” he added.

Chelsea started their new league campaign in the worst way possible as they succumbed to a 3-2 defeat at home to Burnley whilst ending the game with nine men.

Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas were sent off in the first and second half respectively, and Conte faces a tough decision to make on who will play alongside N'Golo Kante in midfield in this weekend's clash at Tottenham Hotspur.

Summer signing Tiemoue Bakayoko has yet to recover from his knee problem whilst reliable backup Ruben Loftus-Cheek was sent out to Crystal Palace on a season-long loan to gain experience.