The former Blue, now Red Devil, Juan Mata made 135 appearances for Chelsea across two and a half years.

The Spaniard will go down in folklore as the man who set-up Didier Drogba’s crucial equaliser in the 2012 Champions League Final against Bayern Munich. 

An interesting fact to know in regard to Juan Mata’s time at Chelsea is that the Spaniard was managed by four separate coaches during his time in SW6, despite only being there for two and a half years. 

Mata, who joined Chelsea from Valencia in the summer of 2011, was originally purchased by then new Chelsea manager and ultimately the “forgotten one”, Andre Villas-Boas. 

He would go onto win the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup in his first full season in SW6, under then interim manager, Roberto Di Matteo, who was appointed by Blues owner, Roman Abramovich.

The Italian's job - simply to steer his side to the end of the season positively and without any bumps before the end of the campaign. 

Mata would go onto play under fellow Spaniard, Rafael Benitez, who he helped bring the Europa League title to Stamford Bridge, as well as former Manchester United and current Tottenham Hotspur manager, Jose Mourinho, who was at the time in the first season of his second spell in SW6. 

Mourinho, who incidentally managed Mata during his time in charge of the Red Devils, was the Chelsea Manager who made the big decision to sell the Spanish playmaker to what was then Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United, in January 2014. 

A Chelsea number 10 like no other

To the regular on looker, it was perhaps misunderstood how good a player Mata was during his time in SW6, especially during his first two seasons, before he was somewhat frozen out by Mourinho, which led to his eventual departure. 

His lower centre of gravity when travelling with the ball, constantly made him difficult to stop, even for some of the most experienced players of the Premier League era. 

The Spaniard also proved himself to be a dead ball specialist during his time at Stamford Bridge. Whether that be from his fantastic free-kick planted beyond the reach of David De Gea during a three-all draw with Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, or his exceptional corner that led to Didier Drogba’s equaliser against Bayern Munich in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final. 

The ultimate success

Despite only being at Stamford Bridge for a shorter period of time then no doubt he would’ve preferred, Mata won three trophies during his time with the club, including two on the European stage. 

His statistics whilst in a Blues shirt were also superb, with him scoring 33 times in 135 appearances. 20 of which came in the 64 appearances he made during the 2012/2013 season, when Chelsea were involved in eight competitions. 

Despite letting him go to Manchester United, Blues manager at the time, Mourinho, was sad to have had to make the decision to sell the Spaniard, who he had admired for years, but ultimately could not find a place for in his starting eleven. 

Speaking at the time of sale in 2014 with the BBC, he said: “These are decisions a manager has to make, but for me it was a hard decision. I'd love to have him in my squad, absolutely.

“But to have a player in this situation is hard. He deserves that Chelsea open the door for him [to play regular first-team football].

“I like people to be happy. I'm so sorry I couldn't make him happy in this squad - I'm so sad with that, but I build my team around Oscar playing as my number 10.”

“He's very classy. I think he's a player that stays in the fans' hearts and also in those of his colleagues,” added the three-time Premier League winner. 

“I'm just with him six months and I like him a lot. Imagine the people who have been with him for three years. He stays in the club history - he won important trophies and people loved him.

“He will come here with a Manchester United shirt on one day and the people will show him that.”