Manchester United agree club record £37m fee for Chelsea star Juan Mata
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho signed off on the deal following talks with club executives and Mata is expected for a medical in Manchester on Thursday.
United chief executive Ed Woodward agreed to break the club's transfer record for Mata as they attempt to salvage their season.
Seven defeats in the Barclays Premier League have left United six points off the pace in the race for fourth place - and Champions League football next season - but Mata's addition will cause a huge stir.
The Spanish playmaker, 25, trained alone in the fitness centre at Cobham on Wednesday as his team-mates prepared for Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge against Stoke City.
After the Sunderland defeat at Old Trafford, Moyes refused to talk about the Mata deal.
Mourinho had given his players two days off following their 3-1 victory over United in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday.
They returned to training on Wednesday to discover that Mata was ‘90 per cent sure’ that he would be leaving Chelsea, three years after he arrived in a £23.5m deal from Valencia.
He has not played for the club since he was substituted in the 53rd minute of their 3-0 victory at Southampton on New Year’s Day.
Mata was replaced by Oscar when the score was still 0-0 and he ignored Mourinho as he walked off the field at St Mary’s. Mata then kicked a plastic chair in the technical area in frustration and team-mates had to calm him down.
After the game Mourinho claimed the door was open for any player who wanted to leave and Mata was one of them.
He believes he will be given a fresh start at United and it’s a huge statement of intent by the champions after an indifferent first season under new manager David Moyes.
Mata, who was Chelsea’s player of the year for the past two seasons, will sign a lengthy contract at United when he has completed his medical.
United believe they have signed a world class player and he is expected to make his debut for the club against Cardiff on Tuesday.
Providing Mata passes his medical, he will be free to play his first game in front of 76,000 supporters at Old Trafford.
Chelsea may decide to spend the Mata money quickly, and were vying with Liverpool to sign Basle’s Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah on Wednesday night. Chelsea are also keen on Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa.
While Radamel Falcao at Monaco is still on the Stamford Bridge club’s list, he has suffered a serious knee injury that could rule him out for six months.
Mata is determined to push through the move and Mourinho is understood to have accepted that he wants to leave in search of first-team football.
The midfielder has concerns about his inclusion in Spain’s World Cup squad this summer if he is not playing regularly for his club side and Moyes will give him that opportunity as he starts building a team for the future.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2544274/Every-cloud-Despite-cup-KO-United-agree-club-record-37m-fee-Chelsea-star-Mata.html#ixzz2rBk9JDNk
Moyes dodges questions on Mata transfer
The Spain international, Chelsea's player of the year for the past two seasons, has been strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford after falling out of favour following the return of Jose Mourinho as manager.
Media reports on Wednesday suggested a fee in the region of £35 million had been agreed between the clubs, with the Spaniard's move to be finalised swiftly.
However, Moyes was in no mood to shed any light on the situation in the aftermath of United's dramatic League Cup semi-final defeat to Sunderland - sealed in a penalty shootout.
Mata has made just 11 Premier League starts for Chelsea this term, but now has the chance to relaunch his career with the reigning champions, who are desperate to improve on their current position of seventh.
United were widely criticised for a lack of activity in the previous transfer window, when Guillermo Varela and Marouane Fellaini represented the only new arrivals at the club.
Moyes, who succeeded Alex Ferguson at the end of the 2012-13 campaign, has also come under pressure due to his side's poor league form and will hope Mata proves the catalyst for a revival in the season's remaining months.
Mata joined Chelsea from Valencia in June 2011 and has scored 33 goals in 135 appearances for the London club.
Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/moyes-dodges-mata-questions#xIyw3pcAfVEbmpOi.99
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