Juan Mata reveals family told him to leave Manchester United after Jose Mourinho became manager

Mata was a key player for Chelsea but soon became surplus to requirements when Mourinho returned for his second stint at Chelsea. The former Spain international was quickly shipped off to United in January 2014, but a little over two years later Mourinho had been appointed at Old Trafford, with Mata a key member after two positive seasons with the club.

Mata would end up outlasting Mourinho at United, with the current Fenerbahce boss eventually given the boot by United in late 2018, whereas the midfielder stayed until 2022. He ended up making 285 appearances for the Red Devils but has now revealed he was urged by his grandfather to pack his things and leave when it was announced Mourinho would be managing him again.

Appearing on the Fozcast podcast, Mata said: "The first call that I received was from my family and from my granddad saying, 'You have to leave. What's going to happen?' And I said, 'No, I'm going to see how it goes. I don't have any problem with him, and he doesn't have any problems with me.'

"It is one of the things that I'm most proud of in my career is to have remained, to be calm and say, 'No, I'm going to try to show that I can play in his style.' And I did so. Our relationship was very natural. Actually, we have a good relationship.

"I played games and we won things together. I played in all the finals, so I felt like an important player in his squad. My family told me, 'Okay, you were right,' but they were panicking a little bit."

Mata did end up making himself an important part of Mourinho's squad at United, starting victorious finals against Southampton and Ajax in the Carabao Cup and Europa League respectively. He had also helped them win the 2016 FA Cup when Louis van Gaal was still in charge.

Mata has played in Turkey, Japan and Australia since leaving United three years ago and recently received an Honorary MBE after being included in King Charles III’s 2023 list of awards to foreign nationals for his services to sport and charity.