Juan Mata is a player that’s seen by many as someone who’s often underrated and underappreciated. The Spanish international started his professional football career through Real Madrid Castilla, but it was with Valencia that he made his mark in Spain. This was followed by the most successful phase of Mata's footballing career, which was in the Premier League. Mata had stints with both Chelsea and Manchester United in the Premier League, where he established himself as an instrumental part of the squad for both teams. We will be looking at Mata’s stint at Chelsea in this article, which was a short yet successful period of his career.
A glorious start to life at Chelsea
Juan Mata was signed by Chelsea from Valencia for a £23.5 million transfer fee on 21 August 2011. Mata began his Chelsea career on a bright note, as he came on as substitute and scored his first goal in Chelsea's 3-1 win over Norwich City. He eventually became a first-team regular and established himself as an important player of the squad.
The months that followed saw Mata continue his fine form and become an increasingly influential player at the club, with his contributions being immense in all competitions for Chelsea.
Roberto Di Matteo was appointed as interim Chelsea Manager during that season, which saw Mata operate as a central attacking midfielder rather than being played on the left wing. Mata continued his impressive run under the new manager as well, and the Spanish international was especially brilliant in the FA Cup. Chelsea eventually reached the FA Cup finals that season, which they went on to win 2-1 against Liverpool. Mata played his part as well, assisting the first goal scored by Ramires and winning the Man of the Match Award.
Mata's brilliant first season at the club saw him finish the Premier League season with 14 assists, and he was also voted the club's Player of the Year by fans. To top it all off,Chelsea and Mata finished the season as Champions League winners after beating Bayern Munich in the finals via penalties.
Another European success
Mata continued his fine form for Chelsea in the following season as well, scoring crucial goals and providing assists for his teammates. However, Chelsea were not at their best form at the time and Roberto Di Matteo was eventually sacked. Rafael Benítez became the new Interim manager of Chelsea. The club's poor performances eventually saw them unable to qualify into the knockout stages of the Champions League, which saw them go down the Europa League.
Further disappointment was in store for Chelsea, as they ended up losing the Club World Cup final against Corinthians 1-0. The months that followed saw an upturn in form from Chelsea, and Mata was an instrumental part of it as well. As the season was coming to a close, Chelsea had reached the Europa League finals. The Blues went on to win yet another European title, as they beat Benfica 2-1 to lift the title. Mata was yet again decisive, as he assisted Branislav Ivanović's injury time winner from a corner kick. Mata was also awarded Chelsea's Player's Player of the Year award the following day.
Limited game time and departure
The return of Jose Mourinho as Chelsea Manager saw Mata spend a lot of time on the bench, as the Special One preferred Brazilian team mate Oscar as their playmaker. His influence and playing time had drastically diminished at Chelsea. All of this eventually resulted in a transfer to Manchester United, as Chelsea had accepted a transfer offer on On 24 January 2014. Mata's move to Manchester United was made official the following day, with Manchester United playing Chelsea at the club record fee of £37.1 million for the player.
That was the end of Mata's short yet brilliant run at Chelsea, as he went on to have a long 8-year stint with the Red Devils that saw them win an FA Cup and Europa League title.
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