My thoughts go back to the 27th August of 2011, the day the Premier League got graced by the magic of a diminutive wizard, a small man with the ability to perform magic tricks out of nowhere. That man went by the name of Juan Manuel Mata. When Chelsea announced that they had struck a deal with Valencia for the tiny man, people were happy, but didn’t have the slightest clue as to what a talent we had got in our hands. Juan Mata made his Chelsea debut as a substitute in a game against Norwich, scoring on his debut. And boy oh boy, he never stopped to look back ever since. Time after time he proved to everyone that he can only get better and better. This was the man which made a below average Chelsea team look decent (No offence intended to our other players). And how can you forget the two corners from his foot that won us the two European trophies, the Champions League as well as the Europa League. Would any of this been possible without this particular man? The answer is quite obvious, no!
Fast forward to today. The idea of Juan Mata joining our arch rivals Man Utd was already messing my head. So much to the extent that I even forgot that we were losing one of my favorite players to AC Milan, Michael Essien. I loved Essien, and it’s not just because of his goals or anything, I loved him because of his passion towards the club, and I somehow phased over his departure just because someone more important was about to move to a team that I hated from the depths of my heart. As I woke up the first thing I did was check the official website of Chelsea to check whether there any reports that the move had fallen off. I was hoping to see Jose pull the plug, Mata refusing the move, Man Utd distancing themselves or even the most desperate case of Mata failing the medicals. But to my dismay Chelsea Football club had announced that they had agreed for the move to go on and Mata could be a United player within no time. I just wanted to go back to sleep, hoping to wake up and pretend that this never happened.
For me Juan Mata was more important to the club than the likes of Eden Hazard and Oscar, for whom the whole Chelsea family have high regards for. I am of the view that Eden will ofcourse leave us sooner or later, Real Madrid perhaps. Oscar has the same thing written all over him. Juan was my hope of having a player of the stature that Frankie and John has at the club. So it was far more important to me unlike the others. Don’t get me wrong, I love Eden and Oscar, not as much as Juan though. I completely dedicate our two European trophies to the efforts of this Spanish wizard, who was totally forgotten under the shadow of Didier Drogba and Petr Cech for the Champions League glory and Fernando Torres for the Europa League trophy.
There are talks going around claiming that Jose allowed this transfer just because he wanted Man Utd to scrape points off Arsenal and City. Utter rubbish! Jose is not a man who will keep such short term goals. What about the next season? Juan will be there even then, along with the formidable duo of Wayne and Robin Van Persie. It’s plain crazy to think so. Man Utd has a weak team this term, that’s no secret, but they are Man Utd, any chance you give them and they WILL come and bite you in your ass! Mata is such a chance that we have given them!
And as a message to Juan Mata from me, we all know that you know how much we loved and adored you. We understand your desire to leave, considering the manager didn’t have much trust in you. The only regret is why did you choose our rival? Maybe they gave you the best offer, ofcourse more than doubling your wages is quite enough of a reason. We understand that your main aim is to play for Spain in the World Cup, and a move was a need of the hour for you. We do NOT hate you! No, we can’t even think about hating you, but we can’t wish you the best either, at the moment. We will certainly thank you foreverything that you have done for us though! And this is no mere formality. We totally acknowledge whatever you have done for us in the short journey we took together. And someday when you will wear the Red of Manchester United against the Blue of Chelsea, I hope the story will continue a little more and we continue to share the bond that we already have! Till the day you decide to move abroad, a move that will remove every restrictions we put on our affection for you right now!
Thank You Juan Mata! In the words of Andre Schurrle, be Happy! 😉
And yeah, Michael Essien, hope you rock the Serie A as the rock in the midfield you used to be! We would love to see you cause riots in the colors of Red and Black under the legacy of Seedorf!
Thank you for taking your time to read this article! I hope this is certainly how most of us feel at the very moment. Do leave your thoughts and views in the comments section below. i would love to hear your thoughts on this!
Readers, do leave your thank you notes to @JuanMata10 and @MichaelEssien
Follow on twitter: @TusharL7
PS: I really wanted to use some really good picture for the article as a tribute to Juan, but couldn’t go ahead with it. So finally decided to stick with two old images that I had edited for Juan! Hope you like it! 🙂
