It had been coming for some time, Juan Mata has left Chelsea. Where he went no one saw coming. Instead of being sold to a team outside of the Premier League he was sold to "rivals" Manchester United.
Mata had a great 3 seasons at Chelsea, 18 goals in 82 appearances, a Champions League title, FA Cup, and Europa League title. The arrivals of Oscar, Hazard, Willian, and Schurrle saw Mata forced to the bench for most of this season. There were talks that Mata didn't fit Mourinho's system and that might be right, but I personally feel he wasn't given enough time in the first team to fully adapt to the system.
Mata going to United is a sign that the club is committed to at least finishing in the top 4, splashing a club record 37.1 million pounds on the Spaniard. Mata will surely be hoping that going to United and playing regularly will land him a spot in the Spain squad that heads to Brazil for the World Cup.
Fans of the club will surely be hoping he will have a Mesut Ozil like effect, where his signing reinvigorates the fan base and players and lifting them into form.
Where Mata will play in the team is another mystery as his preferred spot is the number 10 role that is currently occupied by the teams current number 10, Wayne Rooney. My prediction is Mata will play on the left or right and drift into the middle.
The signing of Mata will likely see the talk that David Moyes can't sign world class players subside, but unless he signs 1 or 2 more world class/quality players those talks will again start up.
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