Roma veteran Nemanja Matic is proud of his relationship with coach Jose Mourinho.

The Serb also played for Mourinho at Chelsea and Manchester United.

On Mourinho dubbing him a 'Mourinho footballer', he told StarCasino: "I think it's a very positive thing. Everyone knows Mourinho as a coach, I hope one day people can say I was the Mourinho of footballers. So I thank him."

"We've worked together on three occasions. I'm proud of it. Sometimes others laugh and make fun of me, but it's nice to know that these kind of coaches respect you. It's very important."

Matic also said: "The Premier League has grown a lot in the last ten years. From a financial point of view, all the clubs are very strong. The clubs have grown a lot, they have great coaches and they buy the best players. There's not much difference between the top clubs and the most small.

"There are no small clubs in England, all the teams have excellent coaches and excellent players. There is great organization, large structures, big fans. There is a difference, there is a lot of quality.

"In Serie A there is there is a lot of difference between the top five-six teams and all the others. But I hope that Serie A can grow and it must."