If the Chelsea playmaker arrives at Old Trafford he may be asked to occupy a wide position that is not his favourite or David Moyes could tweak the formation from 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3

The dream for Manchester United fans is to see Juan Mata in a red shirt gliding in and out of midfield to destroy defences and spark the champions’ dismal campaign. Will it happen? Not if Wayne Rooney is supposed to be going in the opposite direction, but if it is a straight purchase then that dream could become a reality.

A few things are clear: Chelsea are braced for a record £37m bid from United for Mata, the playmaker with a genius for unlocking defences who José Mourinho just does not fancy. What is also indisputable is that the Spaniard is a very good player who can also finish. Last season there were 20 goals for Chelsea, two more for his country, in a campaign in which the west London club raced to 100 goals in all competitions in a record 42 outings, the mark beaten last weekend by Manchester City.

The ability to turn a contest and contribute a personal weight of goals are the prime reasons United’s manager, David Moyes, considered Mata last summer and is again deciding whether to try to prise him away from Chelsea before 1 February.

While the answer to the question of whether Mata is what United urgently need at this moment may be no, this misses the point of the current state the club are in. Next week Moyes’s side could be nine points from a Champions League berth if United lose to Cardiff City at Old Trafford on Tuesday evening and one or both of Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur win their own mid-week games.

A central midfielder (or two) remains the greatest consideration. But the icy shiver felt at the prospect of not duelling with the continental aristocrats next season has caused a realignment of priorities.

The beauty for United is that Mata may help solve the short-term need to qualify for the Champions League and help win the longer game of what might happen if Rooney moves on next season.

Moyes and Ed Woodward, the executive vice-chairman, may reason that if Rooney gets what he wanted last summer – an Old Trafford exit – Mata is already in place and bedded in as the forward’s successor as the club’s chief creative artist.

Before then, though, where might Moyes field the 25-year-old? Rooney is the first-choice No10, the position Mata loves to operate in, and Moyes also has Adnan Januzaj and Shinji Kagawa who can play there.

So if Mata arrives he may be asked to occupy a wide position that is not his favourite or Moyes could tweak the formation from 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 that would have Robin van Persie and Rooney as the central man, with Mata to the left or right.

He will hardly care where he is deployed as there must be desperation for the move given the nightmare Mata has endured since Mourinho returned to Chelsea in the summer: to be relegated from twice being player of the season to reserve under Mourinho has hurt.

It has also caused Mata to grow and drive to better himself. Last autumn he said: “I’ve been doing what I’ve done throughout my whole career. I have always been a very positive person and tried to bring the positives from the hardest moments. My duty, what I have to do, is try my best in every training session, leave everything of me on the pitch. That’s how I can go to bed at the end of the day and be happy with myself. Throughout the last two seasons, I was trying to make myself a better player. Not just defending-wise, but attacking-wise as well.

“For example, I’ve trained a lot on my right foot, to make it better. I’ve tried to improve – defending, attacking, pressing, trying to think before a game, to be more clever, do something before the defender can think of it, to become a better player. That makes me feel good, that hunger to improve in every way.”

Mata is eager to consolidate his place in the Spain squad for next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil. He would also enhance United’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. Achieve that and Mata will have proved a shrewd acquisition, should he arrive.

• Chelsea
• Manchester United
• Transfer window

Jamie Jackson

theguardian.com