Juan Mata signs one-year contract at Manchester United

Manchester United’s 33-year-old Spanish midfielder Juan Mata has signed a one-year contract extension to stay on at Old Trafford.

Mata had been due to leave the club as he was announced as a potential player to be released by United, with his contract set to expire, but it was made clear that he was in talks in order to extend his stay.

He has now signed fresh terms which will keep him at the club until the end of the forthcoming season.

Mata has so far made 273 appearances for United since his transfer from Chelsea in the 2013/14 winter transfer window, scoring 51 goals. However he has seen his role reduced under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer playing 19 league games (and 37 in total) in 2019/20, and last year he featured in the league nine times (and 18 in total).

However with his experience and genial nature it appears that Solskjaer - who is keen to keep professional standards high with any players he signs - is happy to keep him on to retain his influence. Given other senior players such as Jesse Lingard and Phil Jones are likely to join more players like Sergio Romero and potentially David de Gea out of the door, keeping on the experienced playmaker/winger would make some sense, particularly if he has taken a salary cut to stay on for at least another season at Old Trafford.

A statement on the official club website read:

Dubbed a magician on the pitch and a gentleman off it, Mata has become one of the most popular players in recent United history and he is highly respected by all of his team-mates. The World Cup winner’s influence on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s young, improving squad is invaluable and the manager continues to be a huge supporter of the fleet-footed Spaniard.