Juan Mata arrived by helicopter at Manchester United's Carrington training ground on Saturday afternoon to undergo a medical and finalise personal terms on his £37million move from Chelsea.
The Spanish midfielder was greeted by manager David Moyes and the deal is expected to be completed in time for Mata to make his debut in Tuesday's Barclays Premier League encounter with Cardiff at Old Trafford.
Once the final details of the switch are agreed, Moyes will break the club's transfer record - which previously stood at £30.75million paid for Dimitar Berbatov in 2008 - for the 25-year-old
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Welcome to Manchester: Juan Mata is greeted by David Moyes after arriving at Carrington by helicopter
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Touching down: Juan Mata will undergo a medical and finalise personal terms on his move from Chelsea
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Gone: Spanish Playmaker Juan Mata is poised to complete his £37m move to Manchester United
WELCOME TO MANCHESTER
Juan Mata's new team-mates were quick to welcome to the Spaniard to Manchester United.
Here are the pick of their tweets:
Rio Ferdinand: 'Welcome to my amigo @juanmata10 ! Hoping you enjoy ya time here and help continue the success at this club #mufc'
Robin van Persie: 'Welcome Juan Mata. See you all Tuesday.'
David De Gea: 'Welcome to my brother @juanmata10 just one thing....Not the best clothes!!'
Dutch striker Robin Van Persie was one of the first players to welcome Mata to United, posting on his Twitter account: 'Welcome Juan Mata. See you all Tuesday.'
Photographers arrived outside United's training base early on Saturday morning in anticipation of Mata's arrival.
Veteran defender Rio Ferdinand joked about the media presence on his Twitter account, posting: 'Who they here for??? Cameras at the Carrington entrance....gave them my best smile!! #Baggyeyes!'
Mata's signing will give Moyes' side a huge boost for the second half of the season and the club confirmed the deal on their Twitter account on Friday night: 'Manchester United is pleased to announce it has reached agreement with Chelsea Football Club for the transfer of Juan Mata for a club-record fee.
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Blessing: Jose Mourinho said the club had to be 'respectful' of Mata as his move to United draws near
'The deal is subject to a medical and the agreement of personal terms.
'A further announcement will be made in due course.'
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho praised the Spanish midfielder on Friday, saying: 'Nobody here is jumping because Juan is leaving.
'After that, it’s the way you look at things. Would Chelsea supporters be happy if we stop a fantastic person they all like a lot from going and say you can only go if you go to Russia or China or France or Portugal?
'I don’t know if Chelsea supporters would be happy because we are an open club. We don’t have an old-fashioned way to look at things.
'But Juan had a fantastic opportunity. Another big club wants him in a country where he loves to be. We had an offer which was the right offer a player of his quality.
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Cool: Chelsea are set to make more than £10m profit on Mata, with Mourinho referencing Financial Fair Play
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Favour: David Moyes is in desperate need of reinforcements at Old Trafford after a run of dismal results
'The player deserves respect and to be happy - to play where he wants.
'To say you cannot go to United because they refused to sell us Wayne Rooney isn't fair to Juan. They decide not to sell, their decision.'
Chelsea are due to make over £10m profit on Mata, whom they signed from Valencia three years ago.
The club are clearly mindful of that in light of financial rules, with Mourinho adding: 'It allows us to bring in another player, because we need one, and still have a fantastic profit. The two deals with Juan and Kevin De Bryune we put ourselves in a good Financial Fair Play position.
'I asked him, "Are you really happy to go?" and he said yes. We could feel mixed emotions. We are happy that he is going to a fantastic situation but are upset too. I think it was the same for him.
'If he goes, he was fantastic for Chelsea and Chelsea was fantastic for him.
'He tried to give everything but it got to a point where the team were winning games consecutively and he wasn't playing.'
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Pinched: Chelsea confirmed that they would be signing Basle winger Mohamed Salah on Thursday
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Familiar: Salah, who joins for £11m, scored twice against the Blues in this year's Champions League
Mohamed Salah is the man arriving in west London to replace Mata. Despite Brendan Rodgers saying earlier on Friday that Liverpool were still hopeful of landing the Basle winger, Chelsea are due to fly out to Switzerland to complete a medical with the 21-year-old.
'It was a surprise for us that Juan was leaving - we were not prepared to try and bring a player in. Everything happened very fast (with Salah),' Mourinho added.
'Maybe Brendan is right. The only thing we know is that we contacted Basle before the player and asked them if he was available for negotiations. They said yes, so we reached an agreement with Basle.
'He is very happy to come but we have to finalise. He knows I make talented players better, like Ozil, Willian, Oscar, Robben, lots of players I had with similar qualities. He trusts me and I’m happy to have him.'
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Slammed: Arsene Wenger hit out at the way in which Chelsea are operating this transfer window
Arsene Wenger was mischievous in saying that the sale of Mata is Chelsea playing games with the transfer window, but Mourinho turned the criticsm on its head, claiming Arsenal receive preferential treatment with the fixtures.
'Normally he should be very happy that Chelsea sold a player like Mata. But that is his nature - we have to accept the way he is,' the Portuguese said.
'When he says that it isn't fair, I say what's not fair is that his team have the best days to play. This week, one without midweek games, everyone wants more time to rest. One team plays Friday, the other Sunday. This is not fair.
'They always get the right time to rest.'
original post found here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2545739/Juan-Mata-arrives-Carrington-Manchester-United-finishing-touches-37m-Chelsea-midfielder.html
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