The Chels

I think most have come to the realisation that Mata is (/was) not going to be part of Mourinho's plans, and that selling him would be inevitable. But selling him to United, our biggest domestic rival this past decade, may very well awake the 'sleeping giant' which could be to our detriment in the forthcoming seasons. Selling him abroad would have been much more tolerable for the majority of fans, I suspect.

Promoting one of the youth players on loan like Piazon would surely be a better idea than buying another average player (Salah)? On the contrary, you could argue that it would be a healthy buy

Perhaps the board were so willing to sell because of FFP. I can just imagine, though, that UEFA will end up not enforcing it (they're currently being taken to court by the 'Bosman' lawyer over it) or that clubs will find ways around it, like PSG and Man City by whatever means such as sponsoring themselves. It would hurt a lot more knowing that we sold him to United when we could actually have been okay with taking a hit on the transfer fee.

Sky Sports have reported it too, with Martin Tyler breaking the news during tonight's United match.

Enjoy the last few days of Mata being in the 'Current Squad' subforum . Sigh whilst for large parts of this season it's been fun watching United throw up absolute dross at times, I'm going to find it difficult watching their games and seeing Mata thriving, reviving their top 4 hopes.

Short-termism. What if he helps United reach the top 4 thereby enabling them to strengthen more effectively in the summer and become a real force once again? What about when he faces us next season or the one after?

I was referring to the attacking sense part, in which case he most definitely is.

At least as good? You mean much, much better.

Well they are football fans, and football fans get excited when big-name players in particular transfer to their teams. You sound a little bitter, but surely you should be addressing your insults to the Chelsea board rather than the United fans?

Seems like they might have removed it now though. They've still got the article wherein they say United are adamant that Rooney will not be part of any deal, assumingly meaning a pre-agreement is also out of the question. Personally I find it remarkable how Chelsea are so willing to sell to them when United were so unwilling to negotiate with us in the summer for one of their players; they even 'leaked' to the press that Chelsea had offered money + Luiz/Mata for Rooney. That really doesn't seem too implausible looking back now though.

From what I can see there is literally nothing on the Guardian site relating to anything like that. Would you be able to locate the link?

Source? Did you just make that up?

If it goes through then it must be because he thinks it's to the betterment of Chelsea. I highly doubt it'd be because he wants to help United because that would be extraordinarily poor management.

Like many have already mentioned, why sell to United? It's better to take a hit on the sale price by selling abroad to someone like PSG instead of helping to awake the 'sleeping giant'.

PSG, what are you waiting for... Hurry up and hijack the Mata to Manchester United deal already!

Lol that's one of the most retarded football-related articles I've read in a while. Why would Atletico Madrid offer United first refusal on Filipe Luis and Diego Costa for simply not buying Mata, when it would be more logical to offer first refusal to Chelsea instead should they send Mata to AM? Anyway in the end I think Mata will be at United and Rooney will be at Real Madrid!

Selling him is one thing, but selling him to Manchester United (with reliable reports saying Rooney would not be involved in any deal), who have been our greatest domestic rival this past decade and who will undoubtedly challenge for the title next season onwards, is a completely different matter.

Well the counter argument to that is very simple. An ingenious move until he leads them to the top 4, allowing them to strengthen with more world class players. Oh and also until he leads them to victory against us next season (...and possibly the following ones too!). Pessimistic, perhaps, but very possible.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/21/chelsea-manchester-united-juan-mata?CMP=twt_gu

I think it's naive to think that all of the BBC, Sky Sports Football, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Independent among other reliable outlets are basing their information on Guillem Balague.

Well the Guardian's sources during the whole Rooney summer window drama were absolutely spot on, and they are adamant that Rooney transferring to us is not going to happen. I don't see any reason to think their sources are untrue now. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/21/wayne-rooney-sale-juan-mata-chelsea-manchester-united

The Guardian and Sky Sports are both saying that Rooney is not going to be part of any deal, which makes it all the more worse and all the more painful to take really. United refused to negotiate for Rooney for the entirety of the summer transfer window, and now here they are wanting Mata and within no time at all negotiations are 'progressing well'. Incredible.

'Chelsea are asking for £32 million'... that can't be legit?!

Less than £40m to United, who are definitely not going to involve Rooney in any deal, or £30m+ to a club overseas like PSG... Why is the club seemingly going with the former?!

But do you think that any non-exceptional player could achieve those statistics just because he's the team's main man? 2-3 good seasons but then you say Hazard is world class? He did well in the Ligue 1 but is only now beginning to properly show signs of a world class player at the top level. Still though you can't say he's been any more world class than Mata last season.