(Football news) Manchester United have announced that Juan Mata will leave the club this summer after spending eight years at Old Trafford. The 34 year old’s contract is set to expire this month and the Spaniard has made a total of 285 appearances, scoring 51 goals. He was signed by David Moyes in the January transfer window of 2014 from Chelsea, but the Spaniard has arguably not reached the same heights he had managed with the Blues.

Mata has won the 2016 FA Cup under Dutch manager Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United along with the Europa League and the League Cup with Jose Mourinho. His CV also boasts the Champions League, another FA Cup and Europa League with Chelsea as well as the 2010 World Cup winners medal and the Euro 2012 winners medal. Mata will be most fondly remembered for his two goals at Anfield on 22 March 2015, with his second strike being an audacious bicycle kick which landed him the club's Goal of the Season award.

He was also instrumental in securing his first trophy at the club, scoring an 81st minute equaliser which cancelled out Jason Puncheon’s opening goal. The Reds went on to win in extra time thanks to Jesse Lingard, another player who will be leaving as a free agent this summer. Mata went on to win the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League in 2016/17 season under Jose Mourinho, who he also worked with at Chelsea. He also played in the first half of the League Cup final against Southampton, which the club won 3-2 thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s winner in the 87th minute.

Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof said this about Mata “As a player, the quality Juan has is amazing. His vision, his touch and his ability to see everything on the pitch are fantastic. As a person, he’s always happy and always positive. He's just a great guy.” In an interview in April, Mata said “I still have a lot of passion and a lot of will to keep enjoying football. This is a dream come true to be a professional football player so I want to play as much as I can.” 

Also read: Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard leave Manchester United