The 28-year-old midfielder has a chequered past with new manager Jose Mourinho and has been seeking assurances over his future at Manchester United. Given the situation, La Liga giants Barcelona are now reportedly interested in bringing the player to Camp Nou.
It is well known that Jose Mourinho is not a big fan of Spanish play-maker Juan Mata. The Spaniard appeared only 14 times under Mourinho at Chelsea, and despite having been the club’s Player of the Year two seasons in row, was sold off to David Moyes’ Manchester United in January 2014 for £37.1 million.
Since then he has been an important first team player at Old Trafford, and was one of the mainstays of Louis van Gaal’s team this season. Mata registered five assists and scored six goals this campaign, including the all-important equalizer in the Red Devils’ FA Cup final victory over Crystal Palace. But this might not be enough to keep him around as Jose Mourinho prepares to take the reins at Manchester United.
Barcelona are alert to this situation and are looking to take advantage of it to sign Mata this summer, according to Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo. The report states that Mata was close to a move to the Camp Nou on two other occasions, but are confident of securing a £25.9m deal this time around.
Midfield boost for Barca
The midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic have delivered rich dividends to Barcelona this past season. However, with Andres Iniesta advancing in age, the need to find a player to take the burden off their midfield dynamo is necessary for Barca. Mata could do very well in this regard, as he is is an excellent play-maker with very good passing ability.
He could be very successful if he he is played in a Barcelona midfield alongside Rakitic and Busquets, regularly swapping places with Iniesta to keep the latter’s fitness levels up. The player himself would also be very interested in the move, after his career has hit a rough patch exemplified by his omission from the national squad for Euro 2016.
