Joe Ellis

Wed 13 July 2022 9:40, UK

Leeds United director of football Victor Orta is attempting to strike an agreement to sign free agent Juan Mata, according to Diario AS.

The Spanish international was released by Manchester United at the end of his contract on 30 June but is yet to find himself a new club although Besiktas and Galatasaray are both keen to bring him to Turkey.

Neither of those clubs have sent through an offer to the 34-year-old though but Leeds United have with both Orta and Mata’s father eager to close a deal.

Mata is said to be wanting close to £5million per year in wages which equates to £96,000 per week which could prevent any approach from the Turkish contingent.

The saga could take a further twist if Galatasaray sign Whites attacker Rodrigo, as reported by Takvim journalist Onur Ozkan on Twitter on 11 July.

Please no

In his prime, Mata was one of the world’s best-attacking midfielders and maybe Christain Eriksen’s literal and career resurrection has sparked a craze in signing players nearing the end of their careers.

But with the extremely high-paced football Jesse Marsch likes to play, we can’t really afford to have a luxury player like Mata hanging around, especially on £96,000 every single week.

You can understand why his father wants a deal to be done for his and his son’s pockets but we need to take a good step back and have a think about whether this would be a smart move.

That’s all before we consider how a former Manchester United player will be received on the other side of the Pennines and when he returns to Old Trafford next season.

It’s nice to see we don’t think that we’ve done enough yet in the transfer market but this particular move is not the one we need to make.

In other Leeds United news, Jesse Marsch has shared the latest in Raphinha’s ongoing transfer saga while down under on tour.