It's a great shame that a career that has been so glittering and peppered with countless moments of brilliance looks to be ending in a damp squib. Well, at Manchester United at least.
The World Cup, European Championship, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, Europa League and Copa del Rey, Juan Mata has enjoyed a career laden with winner's medals. A player who played a key part in one of the greatest national sides of all time, who was unbelievable when he moved to the Premier League with Chelsea and continued that magic for a time at Old Trafford.
Yet, despite having spent the last eight years of his career at United, the vast majority of it is forgettable and that is ridiculous. Cast your mind back to your Mata highlights and the only one that really comes to mind is his remarkable overhead kick against Liverpool.
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Despite netting 51 goals and amassing 47 assists, no other moments particularly stand out and that's down to the fact that the team has never been built around him. He has never been made the main man even though he has all the talent to do so.
It was a genuine, shocking coup when United managed to snag Mata away from Chelsea, where he'd been absolutely brilliant in the No.10 role for two-and-a-half seasons. In fact, despite playing nearly 150 games more at United he only managed to collect eight more goal contributions than he managed at Stamford Bridge.
That just shows how effective he was playing in an attacking midfield position, yet, United rarely, if ever, played him there. Be it Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan or a litany of more defensive-minded midfielders, Mata was regularly shunted out to the flanks where his skills were nowhere near as useful in order to accommodate someone else.
At least then he was playing, as he's hardly had a kick in the last two seasons. In the last campaign, he was handed just 861 minutes and that has decreased further still this campaign to a measly 311. Mata may be getting on, having recently turned 34, but this severe lack of playing time is absolutely baffling. Especially when you consider how utterly dismal United have been this season and how much they have missed a player of his exact skill set.
United have been starved of creative spark, imagination, ingenuity and just a basic competence in passing for the entire season when they had Mata right there just twiddling his thumbs on the bench - if he was even that lucky. As it was revealed on Monday as United cruised to a 3-0 win over Brentford in the best display of Ralf Rangnick's tenure, Mata is still more than capable at the top level.
He started his first league match of the season - a travesty - against the visiting Bees and United immediately looked much more like a cohesive unit with him on the pitch and, crucially, playing centrally. The ball was moved around quickly, exciting passes were being made, attacks were being stitched together rather than unravelling and Cristiano Ronaldo looked galvanised by having a player on his wavelength alongside him. Old Trafford once again witnessed some Mata magic but, sadly, it will almost certainly be for the final time.
Mata's contract will expire this summer and his emotional send-off on Monday makes it seem another year extension will not be forthcoming. This is a shame as he couldn't be better suited to what Erik ten Hag will want to bring to the side.
United's midfield is in need of serious revamping to give the incoming manager the profile of player capable of making his entertaining style of attacking football work. But if Mata was to stay then that would be one less signing needed, in the short-term at least.
It's not to say Mata can start every match but he has never been a player that relies on pace or any other physical attribute, his game has always been about a breathtaking level of skill, composure and technique. There is no doubt that he is in the right mould for a Ten Hag side and that he could play a big role if he was to stay.
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There are good arguments that a clearout is needed in the squad for the Dutchman to put his own stamp on things but Mata certainly isn't a disruptive influence and never has been, even when his lack of playing time must have been infuriating. In fact, the respect he commands and his experience would have a positive impact in any dressing room.
As will likely be discovered next season when he returns to Spain and enjoys an inevitable career renaissance, Mata still has all the qualities to make an impact and it will be United's loss if they allow him to show that somewhere else.
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