Juan Mata has been in fine form for Man United of late, but things could have been so different.
The talented Iberian was instrumental in the Red Devils’ home victory over Wolfsburg on Wednesday, scoring a penalty for the equaliser and setting up Chris Smalling with this beautiful flick…
But he could so easily have been wearing the red of Liverpool instead of Manchester.
The Anfield club were strongly linked to the then 23-year-old rising star of Spanish football. He was making a name for himself at Valencia, and Merseyside was touted as a likely destination.
Club legend Kenny Dalglish was the manager at the time, and reports in Spain suggested that he was mulling over a bid for the player.
Alas, it never came to pass, and the player ended up at Chelsea. According to Guillem Balague, Liverpool’s interest cooled when they instead plumped for a domestic star instead…
Mata and Liverpool: Liverpool DID think of him and knew it would cost around 20m euros. But went for Downing. Now not interested
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) July 29, 2011
Dalglish did indeed sign Downing, aged 27 and entering the prime of his career, for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £20m on July 15, 2011. He made his debut on August 13.
Mata, no doubt heartbroken, signed a five-year deal at Chelsea a few weeks later for a fee of £23.5m.
Downing scored 3 goals in his Liverpool career before moving on to West Ham for around £5m in 2013. Mata’s next move was obviously to Old Trafford for £37.1m. He has scored 4 goals so far this season.
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