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Juan Mata could move to Barcelona in the summer, although he would have to take a pay cut to do so.
The 31 year old Spanish midfielder is amongst the players expected to leave Old Trafford at the end of the season, and Barcelona are amongst a clutch of clubs interested I signing for former Chelsea player. However, whilst Mata would welcome the chance to join the newly crowned La Liga champions, one sticking point, reports The Sun, is likely to be his wages. He currently earns £170,000 a week with United, and would need to take a wage cut to move to the Nou Camp – although bonuses and a signing-on bonus would partially help to cover the shortfall.
Mata joined United for a then club record fee of £37.1 million from Chelsea in January 2014, and has since gone on to make 160 Premier League appearances for them, scoring 33 times, with the most recent goal, ironically enough, being the opener against Chelsea in the one-all draw last Sunday.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.