Juan Mata holds no grudges against Jose Mourinho

Departing Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata resisted the urge to criticise Blues boss Jose Mourinho for his Stamford Bridge exit, instead insisting that his spell out of the Chelsea side has made him stronger.

In an open letter to fans Mata said that he respected Mourinho’s decision to leave him on the periphery of the Chelsea side this season, but admitted that his spell out of the team had forced him to ditch his plans to stay at the club “for a long time” and make the move to Manchester United.

“Thanks to every manager I have had the pleasure to work with during my time here. They have all been a big help for my progression as a player,” said Mata.

“I have always respected their decisions, whatever they were; they made me more mature and a stronger person.

“[Thank you] to Jose, for making me a stronger player, because in difficult moments, I have learnt to remain positive and to keep working hard.”

The Spaniard continued by expanding on the difficulty of finding himself out of the Chelsea team this season and on the circumstances that led him to change his intentions to stay at the club for a long time.

“I have experienced some complicated situations from a personal point of view, mainly during the last six months,”

“Before last summer, my intention was to stay here for a long time; as long as the club wanted me to, and to keep winning trophies for Chelsea. This is how happy I was in the club and in the city.

“However, as you all know, things changed after the pre-season. From feeling like an important player, I started to experience some difficult situations and I felt unable to help the team to the extent that I wanted and was used to. Obviously, I fully respect the circumstances.”

Mata has only hit one shot on target this season – an accuracy of just 17%.