Former Man Utd's Juan Mata 'not even thinking' of retiring

Juan Mata is looking for a new team. The Spanish midfielder, after finishing his contract in January with Vissel Kobe, with whom he won the league, assured that he is not thinking about retirement and that he is training these days in London waiting for a call from a club.

The Asturian footballer, World Cup winner in 2010 and Euro 2012 winner with the Spanish national team, was present at the 'Financial Times' summit on finance and football and spoke to 'EFE' about his future in football.

"I have friends here and as I was in London these days, I took the opportunity to come and see what's going on in the football industry," explained Mata, who is free after winning the league in Japan.

"I haven't given up football and I'm not even thinking of retiring. I'm training here in London and I've just come from playing in Japan, where it was a unique experience. Culturally it was very different and also on a sporting level, as I was able to win the league and it was a great end to my experience there. I leave with the shared feeling that Iniesta also won it. For me it was very emotional to be able to be in Andres' team, one of my all-time idols, and in a way share the victory with him," he said.

Mata, who has played for Valencia, Chelsea and Manchester United among others, has been training in London for the past few weeks with the help of a number of personal trainers.

"I'm preparing myself and taking time to make a decision on where I'm going to continue playing. I like to live experiences through football that maybe I wouldn't otherwise live in different countries and I also like to keep competing to win leagues, so hopefully I can keep doing that. I'm going to keep playing and take a few weeks to decide and prepare myself physically.

Although his stay in London could be interpreted as a hint at English clubs, Mata added that if he trains there it is because he has a home in London, from his time at Chelsea, and because he knows the facilities and trainers, as well as the gyms, to get up to speed. The Asturian did not rule out a return to one of the teams of his life either, as Santi Cazorla did on his return to Oviedo.

"It's nice to play in Japan and be able to win the league or play for Oviedo like Cazorla did. After being in Qatar for so long and so on, to be able to come back and try to help the team go up, which is where it deserves to be, is also nice and romantic. Of course that's how I see it too. So no, I'm not ruling anything out, but I haven't made a decision yet, I'm still evaluating everything.

After leaving Manchester United in 2022, after 285 appearances, 81 goals and four titles, he moved to Galatasaray, where he won the first league title of his career and contributed three goals to the Turkish championship. In September last year he signed for Vissel Kobe and went on to win the J.League title.