Rumour: Manchester United set to sell Juan Mata after just one year

Juan Mata to be sold in January?

According to reports, Manchester United are set to offload Juan Mata for a fee of £20m come January. The Spaniard has failed to fit in the Manchester United lineup under new manager Louis van Gaal and could be sold for a loss of £17.1m. Since signing from Chelsea in January this year, the 26-year-old has struggled to make an impact despite being deployed in his favoured position a fair number of times.

The Spanish international had a chance to impress in Wayne Rooney’s absence through suspension but failed. And it saw him drop back to the bench in United’s last two games against Manchester City and Crystal Palace. Reports emerging in Spain indicate that Juventus and Atletico Madrid are interested in signing Mata.

Mata has appeared in nine games so far this season, but most of them have been from the bench. He signed for United hoping that he would be a regular starter in the team. However, it hasn’t gone that way so far.

Work rate to blame for exit again?

After signing from Chelsea, Mata wasn’t straight away played in the position that he would have preferred. Former manager David Moyes used to play Mata in a wider area where he was having almost no impact whatsoever.

Despite being Chelsea’s Player of the Year two times in a row, Jose Mourinho sold Mata as he felt the former Valencia man wasn’t a hard worker for the team. Those remarks were once again proven when Mata struggled in the 3-5-2 formation employed by Van Gaal earlier in the season; a system that demands a lot from the midfielders.

A move to Juventus would perhaps suit him as they don’t have a demanding style of play like Atletico Madrid.