Sadio Mane to join Real Madrid on one condition, Manchester United superstar one step away from joining Barcelona and more: Transfer Roundup, 1 May 2019

By Shambhu Ajith

Modified May 01, 2019 15:02 GMT

Juan Mata can make dream Barcelona move happen if he takes a pay cut

Juan Mata scored against Chelsea this past weekend

The Spanish maestro has a golden chance to seal his dream move to the Camp Nou. If the Manchester United midfielder is willing to take a pay cut when his current contract runs out in the summer, we will see Mata at Barcelona in the next season.

Mata currently earns £170,000 a week at Manchester United. It is a sum that Barcelona are not willing to pay. However, the Cules could offer a significant signing-on fee and bonuses to make up for it.

Juan Mata signed for Manchester United from Chelsea halfway through the 2013-14 season and has become a huge fan favourite at Old Trafford. Mata proved his worth once again to the Red Devils last weekend when he scored a goal for them from open play after what felt like ages.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Sripad