Manchester United already have the ideal midfielder for Erik ten Hag's style of play

It's a great shame that a career that has been so glittering and peppered with countless moments of brilliance looks to be ending in a damp squib. Well, at Manchester United at least.

The World Cup, European Championship, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, Europa League and Copa del Rey, Juan Mata has enjoyed a career laden with winner's medals. A player who played a key part in one of the greatest national sides of all time, who was unbelievable when he moved to the Premier League with Chelsea and continued that magic for a time at Old Trafford.

Yet, despite having spent the last eight years of his career at United, the vast majority of it is forgettable and that is ridiculous. Cast your mind back to your Mata highlights and the only one that really comes to mind is his remarkable overhead kick against Liverpool.

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Despite netting 51 goals and amassing 47 assists, no other moments particularly stand out and that's down to the fact that the team has never been built around him. He has never been made the main man even though he has all the talent to do so.

It was a genuine, shocking coup when United managed to snag Mata away from Chelsea, where he'd been absolutely brilliant in the No.10 role for two-and-a-half seasons. In fact, despite playing nearly 150 games more at United he only managed to collect eight more goal contributions than he managed at Stamford Bridge.

That just shows how effective he was playing in an attacking midfield position, yet, United rarely, if ever, played him there. Be it Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan or a litany of more defensive-minded midfielders, Mata was regularly shunted out to the flanks where