Jose Mourinho believes Juan Mata‘s importance to his Manchester United team shows that he is now playing a different brand of football than his time at Chelsea.
The 28-year-old was sold to the Red Devils in 2014 for a then club record fee of £37.1 million when Mourinho decided theSpaniard was surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge.
Many thought that Mata would once again be axed by the Portuguese tactician when he became United manager this summer, however, Mourinho has insisted that he never considered selling the Old Trafford fan faithful.
He said, as reported by the Manchester Evening News: “When I come here people thought that Mata was in trouble.
“I knew that he wouldn’t be in trouble because one thing is the football I wanted my Chelsea to play and another thing is the football I want my Manchester United to play and Mata is adapted to the football we want to play.
“So I knew it since the beginning he would be an important player and I think he feels that confidence in me and he feels that confidence in the game we want to try to play, so he’s happy and he’s happy on the pitch and you can see that the way he plays.”
Mourinho has previously admitted that United are “overbooked” in the wide forward positions, yet Mata has featured in 20 of United’s 25 Premier League fixtures this season.
The Spain international has scored six goals – Zlatan Ibrahimovic (15) is the only player to net more – and provided two assists while creating 32 chances in this time.
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