EPL: Mata bids Chelsea farewell

Juan Mata was last night poised to seal his £40m move to Manchester United.

According to reports in The Guardian, the Spaniard told Chelsea on Wednesday morning he wanted to leave and sat out training to avoid injury.

United are prepared to pay a club-record fee for the 25-year-old as they look to inject some fresh impetus into a hugely-disappointing first season so far for new manager David Moyes.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have already lined up a replacement, holding off strong interest from Liverpool to sign highly-rated winger Mohamed Salah from Basel.

The Egypt international will cost an initial £12m which could rise to £16m.

At Old Trafford, Moyes is expected to allow Wilfried Zaha to move to Cardiff on loan once Mata’s move is wrapped up.

Mata, the Blues’ player of the season the past two years, has never been a favourite of Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

The midfielder joined  Chelsea in 2011 for £23.5m from Valencia and is popular among fans. However, his relationship with Mourinho appeared to have reached breaking point after he was substituted at Southampton on New Year’s Day.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said he was surprised at the deal and questioned whether the timing of it was fair to Chelsea’s rivals.

“Chelsea had already played twice against Man United so they don’t play again anymore,” he said.

“They could have sold him last week but it opens up again questions about the dates of this transfer window. Some teams have already played twice against one opponent and some others not.

“I think if you want to respect the fairness for everybody exactly the same, that should not happen.”

So is this a deliberate move by Mourinho?

Wenger said: “I wouldn’t go as far as that. I just think you would want everybody on the same level. 

“I can understand completely what Chelsea are doing. They do not make the rules, but maybe the rules should be a bit more adapted for more fairness.”