Manchester United have confirmed that Juan Mata will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the month.
The 34-year-old arrived at Old Trafford for a fee of £40.3m in January 2014 after a productive stint at Chelsea and has gone on to make 285 appearances for the Red Devils in all tournaments.
Mata has registered a total of 51 goals and 47 assists during his eight-and-a-half years at Old Trafford, as well as collecting a quartet of trophies at the club.
After winning the FA Cup in the 2015-16 season, Mata helped the Red Devils scoop an EFL Cup and Europa League double the following year, as well as the Community Shield.
However, Mata began to fall out of favour at Man United following the arrival of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and the signing of Bruno Fernandes also pushed the former Chelsea man down the pecking order.
© Reuters
Mata only made 12 appearances in all competitions during the 2021-22 season under Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, failing to register a goal or assist in any of them.
The Spain international did not make a single Premier League appearance until April's defeat at Everton but proceeded to appear in seven top-flight games before the end of the season.
Mata would feature from the first whistle against Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion, and he made his final appearance in a Red Devils shirt off the bench on the final day against Crystal Palace.
The playmaker penned a new one-year contract at the Theatre of Dreams last July, and he subsequently revealed that he would hold talks with incoming manager Erik ten Hag over his future.
However, Man United confirmed on Thursday morning that Mata would end his eight-and-a-half year spell at the club this summer, and a return to his native Spain has been mooted.
© Reuters
"Thank you for dedicating eight years of your career to United, Juan. Everyone at the club wishes you all the best for the future," a statement on manutd.com read.
Mata follows a number of high-profile players out of the door at Man United this summer, with the club also announcing Paul Pogba's imminent departure on a free transfer.
Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic and Edinson Cavani are also set to leave the 20-time English champions ahead of the 2022-23 season, while Lee Grant has announced his retirement to join Ipswich Town's coaching staff.
Dean Henderson, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Phil Jones and Eric Bailly are all facing uncertain futures at Old Trafford, with Ten Hag moulding the squad into his own vision.
Mata, Pogba and Matic's exits has seen United step up their pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, with the Red Devils now understood to have officially opened talks over a move for the Dutchman.
