Manchester United fan favourite Juan Mata is celebrating winning the Turkish Super Lig title.
Galatasaray clinched the title last night with a 4-1 victory away at Ankaragucu.
Juan Mata signed for Galatasaray on a free transfer last summer after being released by Manchester United.
The 35-year-old was an unused substitute last night. This season he has made 15 appearances in total, scoring three goals.
Juan Mata deserves it
Juan Mata signed for Manchester United in 2014 under David Moyes and went onto experience the highs and lows of the post-Fergie era.
He played under Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, before the club released him last summer.
The time was right for the veteran to leave the club, and nobody would begrudge him his success in Turkey.
While he played for Manchester United during a difficult era, he often stood out as a class act. You can only wonder what a peak-Juan Mata could have been like playing under Erik ten Hag.
Mata only signed a one-year deal at Galatasaray and as he has not been a regular starter, there is a good chance it won’t be renewed. So it is great he will leave there with a title winner’s medal.
At Manchester United he won the FA Cup, Europa League, and League Cup, but never a league title.
He scored 51 goals in 285 games for Manchester United, none better than his spectacular volley against Liverpool.
This is the first league title of Mata’s career. He won the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup with Chelsea, and the Copa del Rey with Valencia.
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