Report: Manchester United Bid for Juan Mata
Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
The supposed Juan Mata to Manchester United transfer has taken several interesting turns this morning with reports coming out of the BBC that Manchester United have placed a 35 million pound bid on the midfielder through a third party. The introduction of intermediaries in to the mix make for a very strange scenario where in United have not officially made the bid themselves and can thus deny it in the media. Over the summer there was an issue with a few men pretending to be intermediaries for Manchester United and botching a potential transfer for Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera.
From the BBC story:
"Manchester United have made a bid in the region of £35m for Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata. Mata, 25, has been linked with a move from Stamford Bridge having not held down a regular starting place since Jose Mourinhoreturned as manager.United deny making an official offer, but an initial bid has been tabled through intermediaries acting on behalf of the Premier League champions."
This story seems to be picking up steam with some reports from Sky Sports stating that the price has jumped up to 40 million pounds. The fact that Mata did not train with the team today is not helping settle matters. Other reporters are even claiming that Juan Mata has told his family and friends that he will be heading to Manchester United.
The tweet here:
Juan Mata has told friends and family he is joining Manchester United #cfc #mufc
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) January 22, 2014
There is no way to tell how reliable this source is but it is concerning if this is true because that would mean Mata himself is convinced that he is moving to another club. If Mata is to be sold for 40 million pounds it would represent a very good piece of business for Chelsea as they would make a nearly 20 million pound profit from the sale of a player who has been relegated primarily to the bench. Our preference here at PoL is for the Spanish playmaker to stay put or be sold to a foreign club but as they say, business is business.
Update: The Times reports that Juan Mata has asked Jose Mourinho to leave the club this morning.