Mourinho: I never wanted to sell Juan Mata at Chelsea

– Jose Mourinho says he never wanted to sell Juan Mata at Chelsea

– The special one reveals Mata asked to leave the Blues in January 2014

– Mata found starting spots in Mourinho’s team hard to come by

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he never wanted to sell Juan Mata to Manchester United when he was still in charge of Chelsea.

The 28-year-old Spaniard was sold by the Blues to the Red Devils in 2014 despite being named their best player for the two previous seasons.

Media reports claimed Mourinho was looking to sell Matawhen he arrived at Old Trafford in the summer. However, the midfielder has been a regular in the side, scoring twice in six games.
Mourinho said: “First of all, I didn’t sell him. My job is not to buy and sell. My job is to coach, to work on the pitch and to advise my board about the transfer policy.

“Secondly, it was Juan that asked to leave and when a player asks to leave I think always you have to think twice.

“And the third point is that my idea for football with the squad and objectives we had at Chelsea is one thing, and the squad I have at Man United and the profile and what I try to do with this club is a completely different situation.

“So Juan at Chelsea in my project was one player, and Juan in my project at Man United is another thing.”

Mata started as Manchester United defeated Zorya in their Europa League group stage stage on Thursday.