7 hours ago
2
Juan Mata has revealed that his family urged him to leave Manchester United following the appointment of Jose Mourinho.
The Spaniard joined the Red Devils from Chelsea in January 2014 for a then-club record fee of £37.1million.
He had spent two-and-a-half seasons in west London and won the Champions League FA Cup and Europa League.
Mata was forced out of Chelsea after falling out of favour under Mourinho, and joined United in pursuit of more playing time.
However, after playing under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal at United, Mourinho was appointed in 2016 - leaving doubts over Mata's place in the side.
The midfielder has revealed that his grandad advised him to leave the club as he was concerned the Portuguese boss would freeze him out again.
Juan Mata has revealed that his family urged him to leave Manchester United after Jose Mourinho was appointed
Mourinho was appointed as Man United boss two years after Mata had joined the club
Mata left Chelsea in January 2014 after being frozen out of the team by Mourinho
Speaking on the Fozcast podcast, Mata said: 'The first call that I received was from my family and from my granddad saying, "You have to leave. What's going to happen?"
And I said, "No, I'm going to see how it goes. I don't have any problem with him, and he doesn't have any problems with me."
'It is one of the things that I'm most proud of in my career is to have remained, to be calm and say, "No, I'm going to try to show that I can play in his style." And I did so. Our relationship was very natural. Actually, we have a good relationship.
'I played games and we won things together. I played in all the finals, so I felt like an important player in his squad. My family told me, 'Okay, you were right,' but they were panicking a little bit.'
Mata ultimately decided to disregard the advice from his grandad and remain, determined to fight for his place in the team.
He played 285 times for the club over eight years, winning the Europa League, FA Cup and League cup.
Mata departed United in June 2022 and later that year signed for Turkish Super Lig club Galatasaray as a free agent. In 2023, he had a short stint with Japanese side Vissel Kobe, making just a single appearance for the team.
The 37-year-old is currently playing for Australian side Western Sydney Wanderers, having signed with the club in September 2024.
