Juan Mata admits that he chose to stay on at Manchester United despite struggling to get minutes for the club in his final few years because he genuinely believed they could win the Premier League with Cristiano Ronaldo in the side.
Speaking in the latest edition of FourFourTwo magazine, Mata revealed that he Ronaldo's return in 2021 raised his hopes that the club might finally be able to end the wait for their first league title since 2013.
Mata had made just nine Premier League appearances the previous season as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side finished a distant second to Manchester City, and says the opportunity was there for him to move on to any of several other unnamed English clubs if he had wanted to.
But Mata instead stayed on for another season before finally leaving for Galatasaray, saying: "After so many years at the club, it would have hurt me to leave if United then won the Premier League.
"I didn't want to miss that moment. I dreamed of celebrating a league title at Old Trafford."
Mata added that Ronaldo's arrival back at Manchester United as a summer signing from Juventus helped boost his hopes that might happen in 2021/22 - only for them to finish sixth.
He said: “I thought we could win the Premier League again. He had such high standards that he could drag the rest with him.
“I always thought that when it came to the 80th minute of a game, the ball had to go to him to win. He always appeared in decisive moments. However, circumstances around him prevented him from getting more quality minutes in his second season.
"I connected with Cristiano, during many conversations. He’s a much closer person than people imagine.”
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