Top 10 Manchester United signings of the decade

8. Juan Mata

Juan Mata

Juan Mata arrived at Old Trafford at a time when Manchester United were going through a difficult phase in the club’s history. The Spaniard was identified by many experts as a player quite different from the Manchester United squad, however, Mata defied all expectations and managed to withstand 4 managerial changes. Like Young, he is more of a squad player now but still remains vital to Solskjaer’s cause at United.

The Spaniard started his career at Real Madrid Castilla before catching the eye with Valencia. He subsequently made the move to the Premier League in the summer of 2011 to join Chelsea and enjoyed 2 and a half extremely successful seasons with the Blues. David Moyes brought him to Old Trafford in January of 2014 for £37.1m and the Spaniard began his association with the Red Devils that has lasted to this day.

Mata’s creativity and his ball control were major plus points for the Red Devils and despite talks of him being unsuitable to United’s style of play, the Spaniard soon became an important member of the team. He has shuffled between the No. 10 position and the right-wing in the team and reached double figures in goals in each of his first three full seasons with the club.

The Spaniard has won the F.A. Cup, the UEFA Europa League, the Community Shield, and the League Cup with the Red Devils so far. While he is not the ideal fit in Solskjaer’s current system anymore, Mata has been a solid addition to Manchester United and fittingly finds himself among the club’s top ten signings of the last decade.