Reports continue to circulate that, given the limited success of creative midfielders Javier Pastore and Lucas Moira, PSG are ready to splash another £40million to take Juan Mata from Chelsea.
Incomprehensible to many English football fans as the headline may be, it should be taken with a pinch of salt. Should Chelsea actually sell Mata? No. Well, probably not. Should manager Jose Mourinho play him more? Yes.
Mata remains a consistent player on the field – at Chelsea only Eden Hazard (2.5) averages more key passes per match in the Premier League this season than the Spaniard (2.3, more than the heavily vaunted Ramsey or Rooney) – and his increased work-rate has only added to his already exceptional game.
It is true that Chelsea have too many attacking midfielders to play them all every game (though Vincente Del Bosque or Sam Allardyce might give it a shot) but that Mata isn’t the more regular starter of them all baffles the mind, given his influence since joining Chelsea from Valencia in 2011. Given his own record, it’s difficult to argue with any decision Mourinho makes, but it’s equally tough work finding evidence he is right not to include the diminutive playmaker on a more regular basis.
The issue here is of course that however good he is, Mata cannot influence proceedings on the pitch from a seat on the bench any more than you or I (unless you are really, really good). With two ‘Fans Player of the Year’ awards in the two seasons he’s been at Chelsea, the Stamford Bridge faithful would find his exit particularly unpalatable, but seeing him wrapped up in the dugout must arguably be worse.
The game needs players like Mata, and if there is a spot for him in PSG’s first team then the truth is a sale would be the best move for all parties, sad though that is for any regular follower of the English game.
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