Barcelona superstar to join Premier League side in the coming hours, Manchester United superstar's agent holds talks with Barcelona and more: Barcelona transfer roundup, 29 January 2019

Juan Mata's agent travels to Spain to hold talks with Barcelona

Juan Mata is a fan favourite at Manchester United

Manchester United's Juan Mata is out of contract at the end of the season and Barcelona have been linked with a move for the 30-year-old. Now according to Mundo Deportivo, Juan Mata's agent has flown to Barcelona to orchestrate a free transfer in the summer.

Barcelona are not pleased with Philippe Coutinho's form and are considering the Spanish maestro as an ideal replacement should the Brazilian's situation worsen. Coutinho wants to stay at Barcelona and fight for his place and Valverde is backing the Brazilian to get back to his best.

Recently, Valverde said,

"What I like about Coutinho is that he's daring and he's always prepared to take the opposition on.

"He makes things happen. After that, sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don't.

"He's had good chances and the fact that he's getting into those positions one-on-one with the goalkeeper is really good.

"He's not converted those chances this time, but he will."

Mata will be a great fit at Barcelona thanks to his slick feet, passing and natural playmaking abilities. However, he remains a fan favourite and one of the senior-most members on Manchester United's roster and therefore, the club is likely to offer him a contract extension.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Ananthu Anil