Not so long ago the prospect of Chelsea allowing their two-time Player of the Year to sign for Manchester United would have seemed fanciful, to say the least.
Yet in the 2013/14 Premier League season there is a lot to suggest that by February 1, assuming United have the funds, Juan Mata will be wearing red.
The Spaniard’s apparent lack of work rate and inability to track back means he does not fit in Jose Mourinho’s new ethos at Stamford Bridge plus Chelsea already have the maximum number of non-homegrown, over-21 players registered in their squad.
Selling the 25-year-old would bring in considerable funds (and this is something Chelsea are mindful of in the era of Financial Fair Play), plus free up another squad position.
Chelsea have also already played United twice this season, and are 12 points behind them and essentially competing for fourth place. They still have Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton all to play. Strengthening United may not be that disastrous for Chelsea, at least in the short term.
From Mata’s point of view he needs to leave as with Isco and Koke performing so well in La Liga he’s in real danger of missing out on Spain’s World Cup squad.
However, Mata’s potential arrival seems to have divided opinion with former Gary Neville a vocal critic on television earlier this week claiming the Spaniard doesn’t quite fit the “United philosophy”.
From a positional point of view United don’t strictly need Mata. Wayne Rooney excelled in a withdrawn role before his injury, while they have Shinji Kagawa – although Moyes’ lack of trust is evident – plus the emerging Adnan Januzaj.
Assuming Rooney and Robin van Persie are both fit, Mata is likely to play wider, akin to where he performed in his early years at Valencia alongside David Silva.
It’s already looking like square pegs in round holes and the philosophy, never mind if it’s United’s or not, may not be there. But then where was it when they were signing Ashley Young for £17million? Chris Smalling and Phil Jones (a combined £27m) are talented players but are not Rio Ferdinand or Patrice Evra, who were young but established internationals when they were signed.
United just don’t pack the same punch in the transfer market and have been overtaken by Manchester City and Chelsea, and on a global scale by Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
Moyes needs a statement signing, much like Arsene Wenger with Mesut Ozil in the summer. He needs some freshness in his squad.
Already well attuned to English football, Mata will be hungry not only to play, but also impress, irrespective if he starts on the right, left or in the centre.
United are currently relying on an 18-year-old with less than 25 first-team appearances to his name to provide all their creativity. Against Chelsea they lacked any kind of finesse in the final third. Fulham and Stoke have scored as many goals as them at home.
While defences can be organised, and poor individuals compensated by better systems, you always need good players in attack to score. It may be simplistic, but Mata is one such individual.
