Rafa Benitez wants to move heaven and earth to reunite with Mata in January…
Former Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez wants to reunite with Juan Mata, and sign him for Napoli when the January transfer window opens, reports the Mirror.
The Spanish playmaker was a key component of Benitez’s Blues outfit last term that won the Europa League. The 25-year-old bagged 20 goals in all competitions, where he became rightly regarded as one of the best attacking midfielders in Europe for his impressive contributions.
Strangely though, returning Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho does not seem to rate the talented Mata, and regards him as second choice behind young Brazilian prodigy Oscar. Mata has only started one league game this season, but he was still hauled off after 56 minutes by the Portuguese boss in the 0-1 defear to Everton.
Mourinho has intimated that Mata needs to adapt his game and learn how to track back if he wants to get back into the Chelsea first-team, and Benitez is ready to rescue him from his Chelsea nightmare ahead of next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.
Unlike Mourinho, Benitez considers Mata to be truly world-class, and would offer him a free no.10 role behind Gonzalo Higuain and alongside Marek Hamsik in the Napoli side.
The Serie A club have enjoyed a very impressive start to the season, winning their Champions League Group F opener against Borussia Dortmund, and topping the Italian table with four wins from four. Mata would definitely be keen to part with Mourinho, and rejoin his former Spanish manager this January.
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