Manchester United star destined to be this summer’s biggest transfer flop
Whatever club purchases Manchester United’s Juan Mata is going to be buying the biggest transfer flop of the summer
It’s not exactly a big secret that Manchester United is likely going to sell Juan Mata this summer. The combination of his tumultuous relationship with Jose Mourinho and his declining play make a move all but assured. What hasn’t been openly discussed though, is that whichever club does purchase Mata is going to acquire the summer’s biggest transfer flop.
You may have already picked up on the fact that I don’t believe Mata is that good. Let me go a little bit further than that. At this point in Mata’s career, he isn’t fit to play serious minutes for a Premier League team with even Europa League aspirations.
It hasn’t always been this way for the Spanish international. Back when he played under Mourinho at Chelsea he was one of the Premier League’s best attacking midfielders. I thought Mourinho was very unfair to Mata when he branded him as a luxury player and sent him packing.
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Maybe Mourinho wasn’t wrong though. Perhaps he was just a year or two early on condemning Mata as a mediocre player. His play has dropped off sharply under Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford.
Consider the fact that last year he only was able to post a Whoscored.com player rating of 6.80 in Premier League play. That was only good for 12th on a very average United squad and falls squarely below the level of an average Premier League player.
That’s why I’m continually baffled when top-8 Premier League teams continue to be mentioned in connection with the United attacker. It’s plain to see that Mata’s reputation is much larger than his actual ability on the pitch. I can’t be the only person who can see this.
Perhaps it’s just the English press making up stories, but there does seem to be actual interest in Mata from clubs like West Ham and Everton. Have they not actually watched footage of Mata laboring around the pitch last season?
I suppose you could make the argument that Mata could still help a top-half Premier League club if he were allowed to play as a number 10. That is the Spaniard’s best position and admittedly, watching his lack of pace out on the wing does make him look worse than he actually might be if deployed centrally.
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Neither West Ham or Everton would logically play him as a number ten though. He certainly isn’t going to displace Dimitri Payet or Ross Barkley in their respective lineups. He’s nowhere near the player of either star at this point in his career.
The appropriate Premier League move for Mata would be to seek a transfer to a club like Crystal Palace or Stoke. They might actually be able to use him as a number 10, but we all know that Mata’s reputation is too large to make a transfer move like that.
That’s why Juan Mata is going to be the summer’s biggest transfer flop. Premier League fans should hope and pray that their favorite club isn’t the team that buys Mata on his reputation rather than his actual ability.