However, the Portuguese manager found Mata to be unsuitable to his playing philosophy and sold him to Manchester United.
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Mata left Chelsea back in 2014 after falling down the pecking order under manager Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, joining the Red Devils in a £37.1million deal.
Everton emerged as shock suitors for Mata earlier this week and the Toffees could well afford the midfielder’s £25million price tag given Farhad Moshiri’s recent investment.
And his position is set to be further undermined by the imminent arrival of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with the Borussia Dortmund playmaker on the verge of a £26 million switch.
The Spanish worldwide is said to be aware he has no future at Manchester United under new manager Jose Mourinho.
According to the Manchester Evening news, the club is trying to sign Pachuca forward Hirving Lozano after the Olympics, and the Mexico international’s father-in-law told Futbol Entre Lineas that the 20-year-old’s move will soon “become official”.
She has also added that United’s new-signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic will don United’s number 8 jersey, which belonged to Mata up until now, next season. Nevertheless, Mata was a regular with Louis van Gaal and scored in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace in May. I have to prove to the fans that I am good.
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Everton are likely to face competition from other clubs in England and in Europe for Mata, who has 41 caps for Spain.
