-LONDON
Manchester United supporters will hope to get a first glimpse of record signing Juan Mata on Tuesday when Cardiff City visit Old Trafford in the Premier League.
Mata completed a £37.1 million ($61.2 million, 44.8 million euros) move from Chelsea on Saturday and will go straight into the squad to face Cardiff, managed by former United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Spain midfielder arrives with United 14 points behind leaders Arsenal after two defeats in three games, while their last home match was a galling penalty shoot-out loss to Sunderland in the League Cup semi-finals.
United manager David Moyes has admitted that he was surprised by Chelsea’s willingness to cede Mata in the middle of the campaign, but he is excited by the prospect of seeing him in the champions’ colours.
“I’m a bit surprised because it’s not something that tends to happen, especially between Premier League teams,” Moyes told MUTV.
“I was surprised when it happened, but we have got a really exciting player, a player I’m looking forward to working with, a player I think everybody in football looked at and says he did a great job for Chelsea.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him in a red jersey and doing it for us.”
Mata’s arrival will take some of the attention away from Solskjaer’s return to his former stomping ground, although the Norwegian has greater concerns as he bids to lift Cardiff off the foot of the table.
“I looked at it the day I got the job — when we were playing Man United,” said Solskjaer, who spent 11 years at United and scored the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final.
“Since then it has been so busy, I haven’t had time to think about it. But now, my focus is of course on that game. It is a dream.”
-AGENCIES
