Football’s prodigal sons: Players who left young, only to return for big bucks, with Arsenal & Chelsea signings

Nemanja Matic – Left Chelsea in 2011, returned in 2014

The most recent ‘prodigal son’ is Chelsea’s Serbian January signing Nemanja Matic. The Blues shelled out £21m for his services just last week, but let him go as part of the deal to sign David Luiz from Benfica in 2011. At the Portuguese club though, Matic shone, and developed his promise that encouraged Chelsea to snap him up from Serbian side MFK Kosice in the first place.