London – Juan Mata will join Manchester United imminently after Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho confirmed on Friday that a “good offer” had been accepted for the Spanish midfielder.
“It is a good offer. Respectful to us, respectful to the value of the player. That allows to try to bring another players because we need another player,” Mourinho told a news conference. “Sooner rather than later things will be finalised.
“I asked him when the offer comes are you really happy to go and he was saying yes I am really happy to go. After that we could feel mixed emotions.
“We are happy he goes to fantastic situation but we are all sad as well and some of him was a bit the same.”
United are breaking their transfer record to sign Mata, with the fee reported to be £37 million.
Mata has been at Chelsea since signing from Valencia for 23.5 million pounds in 2011 but after winning Chelsea's Player of the Year award for the last two seasons has failed to cement a regular starting spot under Mourinho. – Reuters