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Exclusive Juan Mata interview: 'Playing for Manchester United is a privilege - I want to bring this club back to where it belongs'
There was a point last season when Juan Mata feared he might be leaving Manchester United; that his career there might be over. It was not a comfortable thought. “To be honest, I didn’t know. I was not 100 per cent sure. I know what I felt – which was to stay - but I didn’t know what would happen,” Mata admits.
“I wanted to stay here because I would not forgive myself to leave with a feeling of ‘yeah, but… what?’ I didn’t want that. You know it has been a challenging time. But I am quite proud of my mentality. It’s been difficult in some moments not playing, out of the team, the team not doing great, of critics, for everyone. It would have been easier for me to give up and say ‘it’s true that I came to this club in a difficult moment and it’s not meant to be. Bye’.
“No, I’m proud of saying ‘I want to make it happen, I want to fight for big trophies, I want to be here when we win’. And I want to be here when we bring this club back to where it belongs.”
It was in January 2014 that Mata joined United for a then club record £37million in an extraordinary move from Chelsea, where he had won the Champions League, arriving by helicopter at the club’s training ground and being a high-profile coup, a desperately-needed marquee transfer for Sir Alex Ferguson’s ill-fated successor, David Moyes. It means the Spanish midfielder is now the longest-serving signing at United since Ferguson retired and having agreed a two-year extension at the end of the last campaign, with the option for a further 12 months, could well end his career at Old Trafford.
Mata has already been at United longer than any of his previous clubs – Real Madrid, Valencia and Chelsea – but it is something that happened after being there only a few months that stays with him. It was the final day of a miserable season, at home to Southampton. United were seventh, their worst ever finish in the Premier League and had not qualified for Europe for the first time in 25 years. At the end of the game was the traditional ‘lap of appreciation’ and Mata was dreading it; fearing the reaction of the frustrated fans.
Instead they clapped. “That was incredible and that said to me ‘look where you are’,” Mata says. “I really didn’t know how they would react because in another club it probably would have been different. But when I saw their faces and they said ‘next year, next year’ and they keep doing that then in a way you feel – and you really feel – they deserve more. There have been moments of frustration for them and for us but we are all part of the same club and the only way to get through is to be together.
“And football is more than winning or losing a game, you know? If you travel around the world you see it is more than a sport, it’s a way of living or it’s an escape from a bad situation and that’s why you realise it is more. It’s a platform to help people build their lives. It’s the biggest force in the world.”
Platform is an important word for Mata who two years ago became the first footballer to sign up to the collective movement that is ‘Common Goal’, donating one per cent of his salary to support football charities around the world. So far 108 football people – players, managers, administrators - have joined along with clubs including leading women in Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan. In fact women make up 50 per cent.
“It says how involved they are. They are always fighting in football,” Mata says. “It explains why they understand from the first moment a movement like this one which is about equality also. It shows the commitment because even though they don’t have the same salaries they still contribute with one per cent of their wages. They set an example to everyone.”
Mata is not disappointed with the numbers involved. “I understand that some people might say there are not enough big-name players but, listen, this is much more than we expected so far,” Mata explains. “It started as a conversation, an idea and we didn’t know whether it would be possible or not and it has been proven to be possible and sustainable, efficient, easy to join, safe. Joining ‘Common Goal’ is a very good platform for everyone who wants to help through football. It’s only the beginning and can only grow and get better. We are creating a solid foundation.”
His ideal would be a one per cent levy across football – including on transfer fees. “To have this one per cent as a standard would be great,” Mata says. “Transfer fees are an example. If there is a £50million transfer and one per cent goes to social causes then, yes, and I think it’s also a way to connect professional football into grass-roots, into people, which I think is very positive. It’s an efficient and sustainable bridge and that’s what ‘Common Goal is’. The connection between them both.
“And gradually I have made that realisation that football is more than just a sport. It’s a driver for many people in the world, it unites people, unites countries and it’s all down to the passion for the sport. That’s why when you are a football player for Manchester United you know you are in a lucky or privileged position.
“Playing for this club, and I really mean this, is something very special in a player’s career. That’s a reality. Not many players are able to say ‘I played for Manchester United and I was there for six, seven, eight years’. That’s a privilege. And so being here, seeing how many millions of fans they have, makes you realise also that you are on the biggest stage that you can be.
“When I was a kid in Spain I only ever wanted to be a professional football player. My dad was but he didn’t play in the first division and my only aim was to do that, to make my family proud. And then that came and many things after that and now I am at a club where David Beckham and Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Eric Cantona used to play and sometimes it feels surreal.”
Does that bring added pressure? “Of course,” Mata says. “We know that fans of this club have been used to winning and when you are in a period of change – Sir Alex leaving and different managers – and trying to win this Premier League title again which we haven’t won for six years then of course there is pressure from the fans, from the media and everywhere. But there is only one way you can deal with it and that is to face it and manage and cope with the pressure and I think you do that on a daily basis. If you do your routine right, if you train right, if you demand from each other then it will pay off and you will be able to handle it better. Also you need to realise who you are playing for.
“You journalists speak more about United than other clubs, right? That’s something I realised from the first moment. If you see pundits on TV – a lot of ex-Man United players. If you see the newspapers there is always something on Man United. Even if it is a small story it is bigger because it’s Manchester United. The level of repercussion is crazy which makes you think even more on how united we have to be with the fans, club, players because you have that sense that everyone who does not support United is happy when United loses. That’s a fact.
"Everyone wants us to do bad which has to make us stick together even more and get that feeling that we are back. That’s one of the things that makes this club special. It has done many, many great things over the years which is very difficult to match but when we are in the position of having an historical advantage then it also feels good. You cannot get it like that (clicks fingers). It takes time and you need winning and you need a club’s culture. And culture is also something I have learnt since I have been at this club. Its culture is key from the first moment and I’m happy that I can say I’ve learnt that and it’s important that every new player who comes to the club understands what Manchester United is.”
Mata is 31. With age has come an evolving role that includes upholding the “culture”. “As you get older you can also put experience to the team, right?” he says. “To be honest I feel the same as the young players when we are training and how much I enjoy it but when they start speaking about when they were born then I’m in trouble! ‘Yeah, I was born in 99 or 2000’. I am always used to being the youngest! In Castilla, Real Madrid B, I was the youngest, in Valencia, the youngest, at Chelsea I was 22 when I arrived and suddenly….”
How does that feel? “It feels ok,” he says. “Physically and mentally and it actually feels good and you feel more mature as a man and as a football player, you’ve been in more situations that you will face. I am calmer and I react better to the bad moments. It used to worse when I had a bad game and it was really, really painful and longer than it should because that was not healthy.
“We have a young squad, the last starting XIs were the youngest (in the Premier League)? It tells you that if the present is OK then the future can be better and that you are building a solid foundation. Marcus Rashford is 21 and he’s already played many games and scored many goals. The experience they have at that age and playing for a club like this is priceless and another thing that is needed is us, is experience, is older players to get the balance.
"I think (manager) Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) knows that. You can have many young players but you also need experience especially when a difficult moment come. I also feel we have made good signings. The players who have come are good people, hungry, young but also experienced – Harry (Maguire) and Aaron (Wan-Bissaka) have played many games – and they have adapted very quickly.”
After football Mata will stay involved in the sport – “It’s like in the movie industry. The best you can be is an actor and after that a film-maker,” he says – while there will be a lifelong commitment to the social philanthropy that is ‘Common Goal’. “It will endure,” Mata adds. So when will he be satisfied at United? “I don’t know,” he says, pausing.
“Obviously we’ve won the Europa League, the FA Cup (and League Cup) and I’ve been here in good and bad moments but I want to be here for the really good moments. And I am proud of myself for that. In terms of being available for the team and always been there even in the bad moments, going out on the pitch and trying my best, it can be better or worse, but I was there. And I am also proud of that.
“We can speak about trophies and celebrate winning the Premier League or Champions League and that would be fantastic. But even if we don’t do that I am going to try as much as I can to keep improving and bringing this club back to where it belongs and that will make me happier with myself because sometimes you cannot always get what you want but you can give everything and I will do that, for sure.”