The search to find the next Nemanja Matić

When Manchester United announced the contract extension of Nemanja Matić on July 6, many eyebrows were raised within the fanbase. Matić was set to turn 32 within a month; this new contract would extend his stay at the club until 2023, when he would be 34. However, those concerns about his age should not obfuscate the fact that United do not have a single player capable of replacing Matić's profile in their squad, and it's no coincidence that the Serbian was one of the first names on the team sheet during United's red-hot form in Project Restart.

Matić is part of a dying breed of midfield destroyers, a player who can provide defensive cover to the back four, who can evade the opposing press with his dribbles, who can keep the ball ticking with a simple pass, who can break up attacks with his combination of positional awareness and physicality, and who naturally gives the team balance.

He has been a force of nature in the Premier League since joining Chelsea in 2014, but at 32 years of age, it's clear that his prime is now in the rearview mirror. By using data from @GoalAnalysis and @MarkCarey93, we can find which young midfielders are best suited to replacing Matić's profile for Manchester United.

Starting off by using Mark Carey's data, we can find which players in Europe's top five leagues are most similar to Matić by analyzing 25 different metrics.