According to reports from TuttoSport, Chelsea would be open to selling Nemanja Matic if they receive a transfer bid in excess of £18million.

What's the word?

It must be mentioned early on that Italian sources aren't the most reliable. Much like the Italian people, linear logic - or in other words, cold hard facts, which TuttoSport's report has a distinct lack of - is never allowed to stand in the way of passion and emotion.

However, it's no secret Juventus were targeting the Serbian international during the summer, something TuttoSport mention once again, and their midfield still lacks the dynamic power Paul Pogba provided during his four campaigns in the Old Lady's engine room. Signing Matic, who measures in at a lofty 6 foot 4, would go some way to addressing that.

Rather intriguingly, the midfielder was spotted in Italy with his agent last weekend, fuelling speculation that he could have been holding talks with a major Serie A club. Perhaps inspired by such rumours, TuttoSport now claim Chelsea would be (at the very least) open to the idea of selling Matic if they received a bid worth between £18million and £22.5million.

Would Chelsea actually sell?

There are strong cases for both for and against. Starting with the latter, Matic was one of Chelsea's worst performers last season and following the Blues' underwhelming start to the current campaign, owner Roman Abramovich is reportedly ready to finance an overhaul of Antonio Conte's first-team squad. Matic could well be one of the casualties, especially considering Chelsea's engine room still seems to lack balance despite the introduction of N'Golo Kante.

On the other hand, Conte declared in late July that the 28-year-old wasn't for sale and that he could become one of the best midfielders in the world at Stamford Bridge. It would certainly be surprising to discover the Italian has already undergone a change of heart, having started Matic in all seven of Chelsea's Premier League fixtures thus far this season.

At the same time, if any midfielder is to leave Chelsea in the coming transfer windows, the increasingly marginalised Cesc Fabregas is a considerably more obvious candidate. In comparison, he's started just once in the Premier League so far this season, after reportedly being offered to Real Madrid during the summer.

Here's a look at how Matic has compared to Chelsea's other midfield options this season, courtesy of Squawka: