Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has spoken about want away attacker Juan Mata and his desire to keep the Spaniard at the club beyond this January’s transfer window.
Following yesterday’s 3-0 victory away at Southampton, Mourinho was forced to talk about Mata after the Spaniard reacted angrily to being substituted in the 53rd minute of the game.
‘I don’t want him to go, that is my opinion and that is my wish – but my door is open,’ he said.
‘The club door is open too, so when a player wants to speak with us we are there waiting for them. But if you ask me do I want to sell him, I don’t want to.
‘I didn’t see the reaction, his frustration was because of the result – we have to win.
‘If we don’t win this game then the difference to the leaders is bigger.
‘At the end of the game everyone including him was celebrating the victory.’
This season has been extremely frustrating for Mata as he has found himself behind Oscar, Eden Hazard, Andre Schurrle and Willian in the Chelsea pecking order.
It’s quite the turnaround from last season where Mata was top of the pile in assists as you will see below.
With the World Cup in Brazil getting closer and closer Mata will not want to be warming the Chelsea bench for much longer. A move from Stamford Bridge seems the only option for him. My take is that Chelsea will let him leave on loan to a team from outside the Barclays Premier League.
There will be interest from Liverpool and possibly Manchester United but I cannot see Jose letting Mata go to a team rivalling his for the title and a position in the top 4.
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