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It’s getting clearer and clearer that there isn’t much of a future for Juan Mata at Chelsea under the current manager, which brings up an old interest from Manchester United, who might not be too happy about spending a lot of money in this transfer window, but won’t say no to a player of Mata’s caliber.
It seemed like getting replaced in the 53rd minute of the match against Southampton was something of a last straw for Mata. Jose Mourinho, through the media (and possibly behind closed doors as well) challenged the Spanish attacking midfielder by saying that the door is open for anyone who wants to leave.
From being Chelsea’s player of the year twice in a row, Mata has fallen in the rotation on most night, as Eden Hazard, Oscar, Willian and probably Andre Schurrle are considered to be better and more useful than Mata is in the current system. The Spanish playmaker has played 13 times in the league, being replaced nine times and coming off the bench twice. He still hasn’t scored a goal, adding only two assists to his usually more impressive stat line.
Manchester United are more interested in a central midfielder and full back, but if the option of snatching Mata away from Chelsea presents to be more than just a rumor of unhappiness, they’d love to make a move. The summer presented a similar situation, when Rooney was something of a transfer target for Chelsea. Manchester United asked for Juan Mata in return, but nothing came of it.
There are foreign clubs interested in the Spanish midfielder – PSG, Atletico Madrid and possibly Barcelona. Chelsea will obviously prefer to sell Mata to someone outside of the Premier League, but a lot depends on whether or not Jose Mourinho is actually strapped for cash and needs to sell players in order to get new players. If that’s true, than Mata will bring in a nice cash injection and won’t hurt his team too much, as Chelsea have been playing in the current system better without Mata.