Juan Mata Admits 'Friends & Family' Were Concerned About His Reunion With Jose Mourinho at Man Utd

Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata has admitted that his family and friends expressed concern about his reunion with Jose Mourinho.

The Spaniard had played under Mourinho at Chelsea but struggled to keep a place in the first-team, with media reports suggesting the two did not see eye to eye.

He was sold to United in January 2014, who were then managed by David Moyes. But Mourinho was appointed two years later and there were, inevitably, doubts over his future at the club.

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"I faced it naturally," Mata told Mundo Deportivo. "It's true I received calls from concerned friends and family but I knew that I didn't have any personal problems with Mourinho at Chelsea. What hurt me is that they spread rumours and lies about what did not happen."

On the media's response to Mourinho's arrival, Mata added: "The relationship between the football player or the coach and the journalist is special. 

"I do not understand why rumours are created to tell news. The problem is that the people who read it, regardless of whether it is denied or not, is that it stays in their head and is difficult to dissipate. And unfair, of course."

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Mata was handed a one-year contract extension last month with his previous deal set to expire at the end of the season.

"Mata is important. Mata is very important," said Mourinho after the extension was confirmed. "He is another one, big story when I arrived one-and-a-half years ago. ‘Mata in trouble, in trouble, in trouble’. Now he’s getting an extension of one more year.

“An important player for me, an important player for the club, an important player for the other players.”