By Mark Weasley
European champions, Real Madrid are considering making a shock move for Manchester United star, Juan Mata. The 29-year-old has been on the fringes at Manchester United ever since making an error in the 2-1 loss to Huddersfield last month, and he could be willing to move back to the Spanish capital. The player is not highly rated by manager, Jose Mourinho and given his links to the Spanish capital club, it would not be surprising to see him strutting his stuff at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mata has gone off the radar of the Spanish national team, and were he to make a move back to Spain and regain his form, he could be on the plane to Russia for the World Cup. Real Madrid are looking to sign a quality player in the coming months and may have identified Mata as one player that can fit the bill. Express reports that manager, Zinedine Zidane is keen to sign another creative attacker, as Real have struggled to replace the likes of Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez.
Real are currently eight points behind bitter rivals, Barcelona in La Liga meaning that Zidane is under intense pressure to quickly turn things around. Mata’s contract at Old Trafford expires at the end of the season and there have been no talks to extend his deal. Mata is not a stranger to Real Madrid having started his career at Los Blancos as he was offloaded in 2007 despite playing well for the reserve teams.
Since joining United, Mata has failed to reach the heights he showed at Chelsea as José Mourinho and other managers have shunted him out wide in favour of more robust players. He was not named to start in the 1-0 loss to Chelsea last weekend and given his rocky relationship with José, it might come as no great surprise should he decide to leave the club.
Real Madrid look thin on the attacking midfield front and Mata will be a perfect addition given that he is a Spanish player, and can create countless chances if given a regular run in the first team.
He is a classy left footed attacking midfielder known for his passing, creativity and finishing. Mata joined United in a £37.1 million deal from Chelsea in January 2014 and has won the Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup in that time.
