Hayley McQueen has sent an emotional message to Juan Mata as news emerged of the midfielder leaving Manchester United.
The Spanish midfielder was only afforded two league starts this season at Man United and got on the pitch just seven times across the entire Premier League campaign, so it may not have come as much of a surprise that he would be leaving when his contract expires this summer.
Mata was brought to Man United in 2014 by David Moyes for £40m during the January transfer window and has ended up spending eight and a half seasons at Old Trafford, racking up 285 appearances across all competitions – but will now seek pastures new.
Shortly after the news broke live on Sky Sports, McQueen took to Twitter to send a message to the midfielder ahead of his summer exit, as she tweeted: “He will be missed. Thank you for everything @juanmata8.”
Should Man United have kept Mata?
Yes!
No!
TIF Thoughts on Mata’s departure…
While Mata had become more of a squad player over the last few seasons at Old Trafford – seeing his minutes decrease in the league over the last five campaigns – he could still look back on a rather successful time in Manchester, managing to lift four pieces of silverware.
Mata is 34 years old and may still feel as if he has a lot left to offer, but it perhaps wouldn’t be a surprise to see him head back to his native Spain and follow in the footsteps of someone like David Silva, wholeft England for La Liga in 2020 and managed to rack up a fair amount of minutes and appearances.