I remember his words in the tunnel before I headed out onto the pitch
Juan Mata
Five years on, both men are on the same side. And on Mata’s anniversary at United, he recalled what Solskjaer said to him in the tunnel on his personal blog One Hour Behind.
“What plenty of you don’t remember is that on that day our current manager was there too… Although he was on the opposing bench!” Mata wrote.
“I remember his words in the tunnel before I headed out onto the pitch: ‘Welcome to this fantastic club, Juan, it is incredible, you’ll see.
“‘Enjoy it as much as you can and good luck.’ Five years later, we’re both still here.”
Juan Mata has been reminiscing his Manchester United debut in 2014 (Image: Getty)
Juan Mata is enjoying the positive atmosphere under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Image: Getty)
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The 30-year-old has not been able to feature regularly under Solskjaer since the Norwegian took caretaker charge last month, starting just three of his eight games in charge.
That has not stopped Mata enjoying the team’s good form, though, and the United No 8’s morale was boosted even more last week by spending time with club legend Eric Cantona.
“As you will have seen on social media, I spent some time last week with Eric Cantona,” Mata added.
Man United: Juan Mata hits the crossbar three times in a row
Juan Mata was bought by former Manchester United manager David Moyes (Image: Getty)
Juan Mata spent part of last week with Eric Cantona (Image: Instagram/juanmatagarcia)
“Yes, that’s right, with the King. How I would have loved to have been able to play in the same team as him… but now we’re on the same team in another sense, as you will all be aware that he joined Common Goal (Mata’s charity) a while ago.
“I have always admired Eric a lot, I’ve always been hugely interested in him as a person and getting to know him on a personal level was fantastic.
“I know that a lot of Red Devils will be jealous. King Eric is an artist both on and off the field. A legend, in capital letters.”