Manchester United's Juan Mata has come clean on his decision to stay at the club this summer and insists that he has no regrets for the choice he made. The 31-year-old midfielder recently signed a new contract to extend his stay at Old Trafford after prolonged negotiations.
Mata departed from a Chelsea side then managed by Jose Mourinho to join the Red Devils in 2014 and, despite providing a few moments of magic over the years, he has been unable to fully light up Old Trafford. With age also catching up with the Spanish international, his playing time has also been restricted in recent years.
In wake of this, the opportunity to land an activate role in another club presented itself for the playmaker who could have been out of contract this summer. However, the the 31-year-old attacker turned down the chance to move elsewhere and committed his future to the club with a new two-year contract in June.
According to Mata, the decision to stay was a no-brainer as he strongly believes that the glory days at Manchester United will be returning soon.
"Even though I could have taken the easy road and thought 'it is very difficult at this club in this moment and that's it, I prefer to go somewhere else and take an easier challenge,' if I had done that, I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself,' he said as per Daily Mail.
"So I know it's not the greatest moment of the club but I prefer much more to be suffering these difficult moments hoping that, in the future, we can do something really nice and win and that that victory will overcome all the frustration we might have had.
"Some people tell me I signed for United at the wrong time but being at this club is very special. Since I was a kid, I saw this club winning. When the opportunity to come to United arrived, I had no doubts. I wanted to feel what it was to be a Manchester United player from inside.
"It was the moment in which there was a big change in everything and we are still there in that process. It has taken a few years and I'm here those years. It is still a privilege to be here. I wish it was in a time when we were winning Premier Leagues but I want to change what is happening. We are getting closer.
"There is no way this club is not going to come back to where it should be. Hopefully that will be with me because that is what I wish for more than anything else right now in my professional career. But if not, it will happen without me.
"There will be nothing that will make me happier than feeling that," Mata added.
"I felt that deep happiness with the supporters by winning an important trophy. I wouldn't change that for anything.
"If I get it, it would be incredible. If I don't, I'll be happy with myself for having tried until I could. I tried my best. Sometimes you don't get what you hope for but at least I will have fulfilled that promise with myself of trying until I can to see this city celebrating in red. David de Gea told me about the day they celebrated winning the league in Deansgate and I want to see that.
"I would take that over anything. Maybe that's me being stubborn. I have people telling me it's difficult, other clubs are doing well, that I should change clubs and not try the impossible. But what counts is that I will have tried until the end."
