The Artist: Delight for Chelsea fans as divine playmaker hints at Blues stay

The usually magical but currently marginalised Juan Mata is determined to fight for his place in Chelsea’s midfield and will not attempt to engineer a move away from West London, report The Evening Standard.

Voted Chelsea’s player of the season in the previous two seasons, the Spaniard was expected to be central to Jose Mourinho’s plans when the Portuguese arrived in the summer. But in a typically bold move, Mourinho has often opted for Brazilian youngster Oscar to fill Mata’s preferred midfield role as a No.10 behind the striker. Mata is now usually deployed on the right flank and has only played the full 90 minutes on two occasions this season, while also being withdrawn a disheartening nine times.

Whilst Mata has not spoken out of line of publicly or maligned his manager’s decision the journey from talisman to fringe player was never going to be an easy path to tread and he was visibly frustrated publicly for the first time as he was substituted against Southampton on New Year’s Day.

The midfielder’s outburst led to speculation that the 25 year-old would consider forcing a move out of Stamford Bridge to ensure he can retain a place in Spain’s World Cup squad. Mourinho then fuelled the rumours further with comments that seemingly left the door ajar for Mata’s exit.

However, despite a queue of suitors, that includes long term admirers PSG, Mata’s comments on his personal blog suggest he is not seeking to quit Chelsea despite his frustration; ”My goal is to keep being happy and trying to make the people around me happy. At the end, that’s what life is about!” Mata declared.