Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata’s contract is set to expire at the conclusion of the current season, and Arsenal have been tipped as a team who might be interested in acquiring the Spaniard.
The Arsenal interest in Mata was reported yesterday, but now a prominent radio host has claimed that the 30-year-old is set to join the Gunners at the end of the campaign.
TalkSPORT Drivetime host Adrian Durham said on his show yesterday:
I thought we were going to do a Juan Mata love-in right.
I thought we were doing an appreciation hour for Juan Mata. After I said this, just a couple of minutes ago, just had a message going; ‘He’s going to Arsenal on a free’.
We can’t do this anymore, if he’s going to Arsenal. We all love him now, but who is going to love him when he goes to Arsenal?
He’s going to be going to Arsenal on a free! He was with [Unai] Emery on a free wasn’t he, so he’s going to Arsenal on a free because he is out of contract in the summer.
Mata and Emery have previously worked together at Valencia, spending three seasons together in La Liga. The match would seem to be a sensible one, especially given the likelihood that Arsenal will lose Aaron Ramsey themselves to free agency at the end of the year.
