Juan Mata spoke about his delight at joining London club Chelsea and revealed that Chelsea striker & Spanish colleague Fernando Torres played an influential role in his big money move from Valencia.
Juan Mata speaks about his transfer and thanks old club Valencia
Juan Mata had become one the most-wanted young midfielders across Europe in recent times. Initially, Liverpool were behind him all the time during the summer as their Director of Football Damien Comolli looked particularly interested in this young Spaniard. It was this bid’s failure that finally shifted the Anfield side’s interest towards Stewart Downing, whom they have now signed.
That was followed by a period of unsuccessful bids from Arsenal, as Arsene Wenger looked towards adding depth to his squad in order so as to convince his star players that the club was going in the right direction. And, it looked like Wenger would definitely step up the interest in Mata after Fabregas’ sale to Barcelona. But, as always, fortune was on the side of Chelsea as the London club or more precisely Russian billionaire Roman Abrahimovich – moved swiftly to seal a deal with Valencia for Mata.
About the conversation with Torres, Mata said, “When (Fernando Torres) knew they were interested in signing me, he spoke with me and told me that playing abroad could be a very nice step for me. It’s a new endeavour in my life, to develop personally and professionally. So I think I took the most logical decision.”
Besides, Mata thanked his former club Valencia, which gave him the platform to become a highly rated player across the major European leagues. Regarding this, he said, “I spoke with Manuel Llorente (President of Valencia) since I wanted to know if the offer was a good help for the club in economic terms. I came in at zero cost and I leave a lot of money behind.”
He added, “I can only give thanks to the club for trusting in me as a 19-year-old who came over from a second-division club. It was difficult for a club like Valencia and its need to get results to trust a young kid, but they did.”
Mata is this summer’s fourth signing for Chelsea under new coach Andre Villas Boas. There is still a big question as to how the ‘next chosen one’ will set up his starting line-up, considering the fact that there are equally good players in the existing squad compared to the new arrivals.
Tags: Chelsea, EPL, Fernando Torres, Juan Mata, Oriol Romeu, Premier League, Romelu Lukaku, Stamford Bridge, Thibaut Courtois, Valencia
